When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed running back Rico Dowdle in free agency, expectations were high. Dowdle was coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons with two separate teams (the Cowboys and the Panthers). Unfortunately, to call his Steelers debut underwhelming would be an understatement.
Against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, Dowdle carried the ball eight times for a mere 15 yards. His 1.9 yards per carry fell well behind starter Jaylen Warren, who earned 4.6 yards per carry on 10 attempts.
In the passing game, Dowdle was somehow worse.
In his first game with the Steelers, Dowdle was tied for fourth on the team with five targets. Sadly, he turned his opportunities in the passing game into just six receiving yards (1.2 yards per target).
Rico Dowdle couldn't have gotten off to a slower start with the Pittsburgh Steelers
While this wasn't Jaylen Warren's best game either, he grossly outperformed his counterpart in the backfield. Warren chipped in 27 receiving yards on six targets, bringing his total scrimmage yards up to 73 for the Steelers' Week 1 contest. Dowdle had a measly 21 scrimmage yards on a combined 13 carries and targets.
The discrepancy is a bit concerning.
Warren and Dowdle were both running behind the same offensive line as the Steelers faced the Falcons in Week 1. Likewise, they had similar roles coming out of the backfield as receivers. However, the contrasting results are a bad sign for Dowdle.
Thankfully, Dowdle has a two-year sample of play in 2024 and 2025 that suggests this might be just a one-off performance. The veteran averaged 4.6 yards per carry in back-to-back seasons with a combined run success rate near 50 percent.
After Week 1, Dowdle has a run success rate of just 25 percent, while his -0.34 EPA per rush ranks 61st among 74 running backs to carry the ball in Week 1, per SumerSports. Dowdle's 25 percent run success rate is tied for 52nd entering Week 2.
As a result of his disappointing performance on the field, Dowdle earned a cringeworthy 45.5 overall grade along with a 40.6 receiving grade on 39 offensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Surprisingly, Dowdle's utter lack of production came despite outpacing Warren by an additional 14 defensive snaps (39 to 25).
In his defense, there weren't many running lanes, as the offensive line also struggled. But the fact that Warren had a respectable outing showed that Dowdle needs to step it up.
Dowdle possesses a quality blend of size and speed, and it's hard to fake two straight 1,000-yard seasons. However, I'd be lying if I said he had anything other than a terrible performance in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons. Let's hope we've already witnessed rock bottom and that there's only room to improve from here.
Grade: D-
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