This is the third in a series on the Steelers' roster as the team prepares to report to training camp at Saint Vincent College July 28. Today: Running back.
Running backs: Rico Dowdle, Eli Heidenreich, Travis Homer, Kaleb Johnson, Lew Nichols, Jaylen Warren
Mike McCarthy grew up watching the Steelers in an era when they were perennially a top-three rushing attack in the NFL.
While McCarthy has grown to become a quarterback-centric offensive mind as the Steelers head coach, he isn't about to throw out decades' worth of franchise ethos.
Enter a running back group that is light on hype and heavy on running angry.
Not that Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle hold a grudge against the NFL, but both of the Steelers' top two backs went undrafted and haven't let themselves forget it. They haven't let opposing defenses forget it either.
Hence, both Warren and Dowdle have hoisted NFL Network's "Angry Runs" scepter in the last few years. Warren won it in 2023 and Dowdle won it just last year with Carolina. Running hard is just what those two do, and now they're together to complement each other in the Steelers backfield.
Warren has been a bowling ball since the first day the pads went on in his rookie training camp in 2022 at Saint Vincent College. He also slayed any number of oncoming pass-rushers in backs-on-backers drills that year, and continued to do so whenever his number was called into the ring.
After the departure of four-year feature back Najee Harris to free agency, Warren stepped into the clear-cut No. 1 role and had a career season. His 211 carries, 958 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns and 52 first-downs were NFL highs across the board.
Warren also had a career-best 1,291 yards from scrimmage, the first two receiving touchdowns of his career and zero lost fumbles for the first time since his rookie campaign. The emergence of Kenneth Gainwell meant that Warren's pass-catching volume dropped a bit, but he had just one drop for the second season in a row.
Dowdle gives the Steelers potential to have their own version of smash-and-dash in the backfield. Warren has the burst and shiftiness to break off big gains, while Dowdle is more pure power. But Dowdle was cutting up defenses like a hot knife through butter last season when his opportunities increased with the Panthers.
That happened after Dowdle rushed for just 83 yards on 28 carries through the first four weeks. With Chuba Hubbard out for two games in early October, the Panthers fed Dowdle and he ate like a king back home in his native Carolina.
Dowdle posted back-to-back 200-yard games in back-to-back victories, rushing for 206 and 183, respectively, against the Dolphins and Cowboys. He also found the end zone in each of those wins, on the ground against Miami and through the air against Dallas.
Even once Hubbard returned, Dowdle put forth another 130-yard game in a Nov. 2 win at Green Bay. By the end of the regular season, he finished with 1,076 rushing yards, his second in a row hitting four digits.
The Steelers are the only team in the NFL with two players who were top 20 in rushing yards last season. Dowdle is the only player with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to do so with two different teams, and now he'll try to be the first in NFL history to make it three.
Kaleb Johnson is working while he waits in the wings, only a year removed from the Steelers using a third-round draft pick on him. Johnson will compete with veterans Travis Homer, a special teams ace, and Lew Nichols, a 2025 preseason stud for the Steelers, as well as rookie seventh-rounder Eli Heidenreich.
Heidenreich is the only official "slash" on the roster, with his position designation split between running back and wide receiver. So far, he has worked mostly with the backfield, but his duties could expand as training camp progresses.
Though not necessarily a running back, Riley Nowakowski has been listed primarily as a fullback since the Steelers drafted him in the fifth round out of Indiana. That position is more tight end than running back in today's NFL, but Nowakowski figures to do his share of lead-blocking and perhaps even get some goal-line carries. He did just that with the Hoosiers, including a 1-yard touchdown run in the national title game.
