The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2026 regular season will have no shortage of eyes on it as they have a new coaching staff for the year. With the team busy at practice this week ahead of their Week 1 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, Head Coach Mike McCarthy is set to embark on his first season with the storied franchise. One change that he has brought about is the limited availability the media has at practices to give any insight into storylines surrounding position battles on the roster. On Tuesday, that roster was met with a bold question from one former legend.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy speaks with an official during his first time coaching the Steelers in the preseason.
Pittsburgh needed a reset following another first-round playoff exit to end their 2025 season. With that reset comes an offensive-minded coach in McCarthy who looks to transcend the unit on that side of the ball. However, he may have left the roster thin at one position. On Tuesday, former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hosted an episode of his Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger podcast. The question he had about the roster was centered around running backs Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle. The legendary quarterback feels that there could be some cause for concern if either of those guys get dinged up during the season.
“There’s obviously the running backs,” Roethlisberger said. “They listed two running backs, Rico [Dowdle] and Jaylen [Warren]. I know they kept Eli Heidenreich, the kid from Pittsburgh which we thought was a great story. I kind of thought that they would keep him as a practice squad guy. If something happens to one of those first two, Rico or Jaylen, which heaven forbid we hope it doesn’t, do you feel confident enough in the other one and Eli as a rookie to do that job? Thought that maybe they would keep [Lew] Nichols as the third.”
After being waived by the team on August 30th when the organization had to release its initial 53-man roster, Lew Nichols was then added back to the practice squad as he cleared waivers. It certainly is a feel good story for rookie running back Eli Heidenreich making the team in the Steel City given he played high school football there before playing at Navy in college. However, should one of the top two running backs go down, that would put a lot of pressure on him in his first year in the NFL to split carries, even if it is with a veteran.
Nichols provides more experience at least around NFL teams given that he was drafted in 2023. However, the organization decided to go with Heidenreich while also keeping all of their 2026 NFL Draft picks. During the podcast, Roethlisberger also mentioned he felt that move was unusual. Now Pittsburgh moves ahead to the 2026 season with the rookie as their third running back behind the two stalwart veterans.
Steelers Can't Afford To Get Injured On Offense Early
Health is going to be a huge factor in the 2026 season for the Steelers if they want to have success in McCarthy's first season at the helm. They already suffered a blow on defense as safety DeShon Elliott was placed on injured reserve to start the season despite playing in the preseason against the New York Jets. The move to put the safety on IR was a mysterious choice given his availability for those preseason games.
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Pittsburgh Steelers safety DeShon Elliott prepares to walk off the field as Pittsburgh played a professional football game on the road.
Given the situation at running back, this makes health even more important entering the 2026 regular season on offense. While Nichols is available to be elevated off the practice squad and possibly push Heidenreich back to number three should an injury happen at a position, they certainly are thin at RB when looking at the roster. The front office did a great job of adding weapons to the team in the offseason, however, given these statements made by the former veteran quarterback, they need those guys to stay healthy for a successful 2026 campaign.
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