Rico Dowdle

Rico Dowdle did it again last season. Dowdle fought to get to the top of the Carolina running back depth chart as he wrestled the starting job away from Chuba Hubbard. In Weeks 5-18, Dowdle averaged 18.6 touches and 87.7 total yards as the RB10 in fantasy points per game. Dowdle also excelled last season on the ground and in the receiving game. He ranked 23rd in explosive run rate, 17th in missed tackle rate, tenth in yards after contact per attempt, 17th in yards per route run, and 16th in first downs per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). After that strong season, Dowdle now finds himself reunited with Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh as a backfield complement to Jaylen Warren. The division of the Steelers' running back workload is up in the air for the 2026 season, but I won't count against Dowdle's ability to rise to the competition for RB1 duties. We'll likely see a committee approach for Pittsburgh this season, but Dowdle could easily return RB2 value if not strong flex value this season.

Free agent running back Rico Dowdle is signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers according to multiple reports.

Fantasy Impact

Dowdle is coming off of a second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season as he totaled 1,076 yards and a career-high six touchdowns with the Carolina Panthers. He finished four yards shy of surpassing his career-high of 1,079 yards in his final season with Dallas in 2024. Dowdle has played five seasons in the NFL and has carried the ball 567 times - but 471 of those have come in the last two seasons. He'll be the new running mate to Jaylen Warren in the Steelers' backfield in 2026.