One of the best running backs still available in free agency officially has a new home: Former Cowboys and Panthers RB Rico Dowdle is signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The move reunites Dowdle with Mike McCarthy, who once described the veteran as "a bowling ball full of butcher knives” when they were together in Dallas.

Rico Dowdle Fantasy Outlook With Pittsburgh Steelers

The glass-half-full case for Dowdle: The 27-year-old veteran is capable of working across all three downs, has racked up 1,300-plus total yards in back-to-back seasons, and has minimal overall wear-and-tear after spending the first four years of his career as a distant backup.

The glass-half-empty case against Rico: He was one of the NFL's worst RBs during the second half of 2025 (AKA our most recent sample of performance).

Now, it's not terribly unusual for RBs to wear down as the season goes on, but we're talking about someone who was operating as one of the game's single-most efficient rushers … before crashing down and working as a legit bottom-5 RB in the league down the stretch.

Good news for Dowdle: He's entering an offense that should be a bit more fantasy-friendly. Steelers RBs were afforded the 11th most rush yards before contact per carry in 2025 and ranked second in target share. Those factors, combined with their percentage of carries vs. 8+ defenders in the box and team rank in points per drive, gave Pittsburgh RBs the league's eighth-best mark in "RB Supporting Cast Rating," while Carolina was tied for 17th last season.

Don't expect fireworks out of this Steelers offense from a scoring perspective, but PFF's reigning eighth-ranked offensive line returns four of five starters, and old man Aaron Rodgers' willingness to get rid of the football as quickly as possible at this point in his career is actually a good thing for the PPR aspirations of his involved running backs.

Pittsburgh could very well help enable Dowdle to the sort of RB1 heights that he experienced during the first half of last season … if he is actually afforded a true every-down role. It's possible—HC Mike McCarthy was willing to feature Dowdle to the tune of 274 touches with the Cowboys in 2024–although the presence of incumbent RB1 Jaylen Warren could complicate things. Hell, it's possible that much-maligned rising second-year RB Kaleb Johnson factors in as well. Any prediction about how this backfield will shake out is a glorified guess at this point … but here it goes!

• The best-case scenario for Dowdle involves him taking over the backfield sooner rather than later and handling 20-plus combined carries and targets in an offense that managed to rank a respectable 15th in scoring last season. That sort of profile would be tough to keep outside of the weekly top-15 options or so at the position.
• The worst-case scenario consists of Warren leading the way and relegating Dowdle to the sort of similar 1B role that he had for portions of 2025 behind Chuba Hubbard. A handcuff who you can FLEX … but you won't feel good about it.

Add it all together, and I'm cautiously treating both Dowdle and Warren as mid-tier RB3 types at the moment. I LEAN Dowdle as the preferred option due to his history with McCarthy and potential to handle a bigger overall workload due to his profile as the more early-down/goal-line friendly option. Either way, the good news is each possesses the sort of skill set to theoretically supply all sorts of fantasy goodness should the opportunity arise; just realize there's also potential here for an annoying split backfield inside an offense not exactly expected to light up scoreboards on a weekly basis.

Meanwhile in Carolina: Dowdle's departure opens things up for Hubbard to regain his standing as THE running back, y'all, assuming he can hold off injury-riddled former second-round pick Jonathon Brooks. Don't just take my word for it, listen to Fantasy Life's fearless leader, Matthew Berry—he was well ahead of this outcome in his fantastic annual "things he heard at the combine" column:

"While he had some great games with the Panthers this year, expect Rico Dowdle to move on this offseason. Carolina is very happy with Chuba Hubbard and I hear Jonathon Brooks’ rehab is actually going great."

Good call, boss.

Ultimately, it's possible Carolina (and Pittsburgh for that matter) isn't done adding to the backfield, but shedding Dowdle from the equation is undoubtedly good news for the upside of both Hubbard and Brooks. The former deserves to be in the borderline RB2 conversation with guys like D'Andre Swift, David Montgomery and Bhayshul Tuten–lead backs at the moment with questionable job security. The latter is tough to trust due to the cruel will of the injury gods, but the arrow is at least pointing up for the first time in a minute.

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