Steelers' Jaylen Warren Gets Surprising Defense As Rico Dowdle Hype Grows

The Pittsburgh Steelers have two running backs who could make arguing over labels mostly pointless. One enters 2026 after consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The other has spent four years producing in Pittsburgh without ever quite receiving the attention his efficiency, toughness and receiving ability suggest he deserves. The depth chart can put them in whatever order it wants. Sundays may be considerably less organized.

Matt Williamson is pushing back on the idea that Rico Dowdle should automatically be viewed above Jaylen Warren in Pittsburgh's backfield. During a recent episode of The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio, Williamson called Warren one of the organization's most underrated players and suggested Mike McCarthy could ultimately let performance dictate the workload rather than assigning rigid jobs before kickoff.

“I think that’s selling Warren a little short… I think since he’s come in the league, he’s been like the most underrated Steeler, and I think it’s still continuing. I think he’s a tier above Dowdle just as a football player, and I like Dowdle a lot… I think the roles will be less distinctive than they were in the past… It might just be we’re going to play the hot hand on a week-to-week basis,” Williamson said.

Calling Warren a tier above Dowdle is notable because Pittsburgh did not exactly sign a lightweight in March. Dowdle rushed for 1,076 yards and six touchdowns with the Carolina Panthers in 2025 after producing 1,079 yards the previous season. He has averaged 4.5 yards per carry across his NFL career and brings plenty of familiarity with McCarthy after their time together in Dallas.

Yet Williamson's point becomes easier to understand once Warren's complete game is considered. He came within 42 yards of his first 1,000-yard rushing season last year, finishing with 958 yards and six touchdowns while averaging the same 4.5 yards per carry Dowdle posted in Carolina. Warren also caught 40 passes for 333 yards and two more scores, giving Pittsburgh production that does not disappear when the offense reaches third down.

His résumé has always carried a strange mismatch between production and perception. Warren entered the league undrafted in 2022, which meant every step upward initially felt temporary. He earned a roster spot, became part of the rotation, eventually grew into a starter and still somehow arrives in another season surrounded by questions about whether somebody else is about to take the larger role.

Pittsburgh's first depth chart actually listed Warren ahead of Dowdle, and the current version still has that ordering intact. That does not guarantee Warren the first carry against Atlanta, much less the largest workload over 17 games, but it does reinforce Williamson's argument that Pittsburgh has never officially treated Dowdle like a clear replacement at the top.

The cleaner way to view the backfield may be as two answers to different versions of the same question.

Dowdle has shown that he can absorb traditional volume. He handled 236 carries last season, started 11 games and produced consecutive 200-plus-yard scrimmage performances during one particularly absurd two-week stretch. Warren has never received that many carries in a season, but his compact build, contact balance and receiving value make it difficult to remove him simply because another runner is hot.

That is where Williamson's hot-hand theory becomes interesting. McCarthy does not necessarily need to declare that one player gets early downs while the other owns passing situations. Warren can catch. Dowdle caught 39 passes last season. Both have enough size to run inside, and neither requires the offense to loudly announce its intention merely by entering the huddle.

The ambiguity can become an advantage. If Warren opens a game consistently turning five-yard opportunities into eight, there is little reason to interrupt him because a predetermined rotation says otherwise. If Dowdle starts wearing down a defensive front, Pittsburgh can ride the larger workload without treating Warren's reduced carries that afternoon as a demotion.

The Steelers also kept Eli Heidenreich as a hybrid running back/wide receiver, adding another movable piece without changing the central equation. Pittsburgh's initial 53-man roster included Warren and Dowdle as its two conventional backs, a pretty strong indication that McCarthy expects both to matter considerably.

Steelers May Be Better Off Without Naming A True RB1

The temptation with every backfield is to turn usage into a ranking. Somebody starts, somebody gets called RB2 and every carry distribution becomes evidence that one player is winning something. Pittsburgh may be better served ignoring all of it.

Warren has already proven he can create explosive plays, protect the quarterback, catch the football and handle a significant rushing workload. Dowdle arrives with two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and the experience of functioning inside McCarthy's offense. There is no obvious football reason to force either one into a narrow role just to make the depth chart easier to explain.

Williamson's strongest point is not really that Warren must receive more carries than Dowdle. It is that treating Dowdle as clearly superior undersells a player Pittsburgh has watched outperform expectations since the day he arrived.

Warren has spent four seasons making people reconsider how much he should play. If Williamson is right, McCarthy may finally have the perfect solution: stop deciding in advance.

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