The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to look pretty different offensively in 2026, part of that change including their running back room. After losing last year’s receptions leader in Kenneth Gainwell, Pittsburgh brought in one of Mike McCarthy’s old friends in Rico Dowdle. He joins Jaylen Warren to form a 1-2 punch, with Kaleb Johnson looking for carries behind them.
On paper, that forms a solid running back room. But not in the eyes of analyst Warren Sharp, who believes Pittsburgh has the 20th-best running backs group in the league, in a tweet posted Tuesday.
ranking the NFL’s best running back rooms:
1. Atlanta Falcons
2. Detroit Lions
3. Buffalo Bills
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Los Angeles Rams
7. San Francisco 49ers
8. Miami Dolphins
9. Arizona Cardinals
10. Baltimore Ravens
11. New England Patriots
12. Kansas…— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) June 30, 2026
Sharp isn’t very high on the Steelers’ offense in general. Earlier this week, he ranked the Steelers’ receiving and tight end corps among the worst in the league.
There’s an argument against Sharp’s analysis on the Steelers’ wide receivers and tight ends. The same goes with his assessment of the Steelers’ running backs. Dowdle has proven himself as a workhorse, with 471 carries in the last two years. He’s finished with 1,079 and 1,076 rushing yards during that time, doing so on 4.6 yards per carry in each year. That’s not going to place him among the top running backs in the league. But he certainly is a consistent, reliable player to hand the ball to, one who’s got experience with McCarthy.
The Steelers know what they have in Warren, who’s long been a player the fans have wanted a bigger role for. He’s coming off his best season in 2025 with 958 rushing yards. It was also the first year of his career in which he got over 200 carries. He’s a threat in the receiving game as well, able to make explosive plays after the catch like the one below.
Those two are obviously going to dominate the carries. But there is some potential rounding the room out as well. Kaleb Johnson didn’t get a chance to break through last year, left out of the rotation after a special teams blunder in Week 2. But under a new coaching staff, one which is praising him so far, he could bounce back. Eli Heidenreich is another young player to watch in camp. And Riley Nowakowski will see some time in the backfield as well.
This isn’t to say the Steelers have one of the best running back rooms in the league. Unlike some of the top teams on the list, they don’t have an elite back capable of carrying an offense. However, if the room can stay healthy, it may perform better than the 20th-place ranking Sharp suggests.
