Steelers’ Backfield Pecking Order Isn’t as Settled as the Depth Chart Suggests

Pittsburgh’s first training camp depth chart lists Jaylen Warren ahead of Rico Dowdle at running back. That’s the official word. It’s also not really the story right now.

Four practices into camp, Trib Live’s Chris Adamski posted a read that cuts against the depth chart: “Rico Dowdle is RB1 over Jaylen Warren”

based on first-team practice reps through August 1. That’s not confirmed as the team’s plan — it’s one credentialed beat reporter’s read on early practice groupings, and depth charts and rep counts in August routinely diverge from what shows up Week 1. But it’s worth taking seriously, because it lines up with everything else about how Pittsburgh built this backfield.

Offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio isn’t pretending there’s a clean answer yet. Per the team’s own site, he said this week that the timeshare “will play itself out as we go,” and that both backs “are going to be a big part of our success.” Head coach Mike McCarthy has gone further, repeatedly calling both Warren and Dowdle “four-down backs” — coach-speak for not committing to an early-down/passing-down split just yet.

Why This Isn’t Just a Camp Storyline

Here’s the analysis part: this is a scheme fit question as much as a talent question. Warren, listed at 5-foot-8 and having reportedly trimmed down to 205 pounds this offseason according to Adamski’s reporting, profiles as a change-of-pace, space-and-passing-down back. Dowdle, at 5-11 and 215, is built like the early-down grinder McCarthy’s zone-run system in Green Bay always leaned on. If McCarthy is installing anything close to his old Packers running game, Dowdle’s frame is the one that fits the between-the-tackles reps, and Warren’s the one who’d profile as the third-down and check-down piece he already was for Aaron Rodgers last season.

That’s not a knock on Warren. He set career highs across the board in 2025 — 211 carries, 958 yards, six touchdowns, plus 40 catches for 333 yards — and he’s never had a season with more explosive per-touch efficiency. He’s also never cracked 1,000 rushing yards in four seasons, which matters less as a talent gap and more as a role signal: Pittsburgh has always used him as part of a committee, not a bell-cow. Dowdle just posted 1,076 rushing yards in Carolina on a nearly identical workload to his 2024 season in Dallas — a level of season-to-season consistency that’s rarer than raw yardage totals suggest.

If Dowdle is genuinely trending toward the early-down job, the practical effect on Warren isn’t a benching. It’s a role compression — fewer clock-control carries, more the passing-down and satellite work he already does well. That’s a different outcome than losing the job outright, and conflating the two overstates what’s actually happening right now.

The Right Tackle Job Just Got Murkier, Not Clearer

Dylan Cook opened camp as Pittsburgh’s starting right tackle, and he’s still there. But the competition behind him changed shape this week. First-round rookie Max Iheanachor left Thursday’s practice with an upper-body injury — later described as a shoulder issue — and, per ClutchPoints, his return has since been pushed back further than the team’s initial short-term outlook suggested. McCarthy has said the injury isn’t considered serious, but he hasn’t disclosed specifics, and Iheanachor’s timeline remains unresolved as of this writing.

The injury is frustrating mainly because of when it hit. Iheanachor, who didn’t allow a sack in his final season at Arizona State, had reportedly been outplaying his RT2 label — Steelers Depot reported he’d held up well in one-on-ones against T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, enough that some in camp were floating him as a realistic Week 1 starter. Every practice he misses is a rep he doesn’t get against that level of competition, and rookie tackles generally need volume, not flashes, to close a technique gap.

Cook, for his part, isn’t just holding a seat. He’s a 28-year-old journeyman who took over at left tackle late last season after Andrus Peat’s concussion and started four games down the stretch. New staff, new scheme — that late push doesn’t guarantee him anything under McCarthy. But it’s real NFL production against a rookie who’s now missing practice time he can’t get back before the preseason opener on August 13.

My read: barring a setback, Cook opens the regular season as Pittsburgh’s starting right tackle. Iheanachor was closing that gap fast, but he can’t close it from the sideline, and rookie tackles rarely leapfrog a healthy veteran in a compressed camp window. That could change by October. It won’t change by September.

What to Watch the Rest of Camp

• Practice-rep splits between Warren and Dowdle with the first-team offense, not just the depth chart listing
• Iheanachor’s actual return date and whether he’s full-go once cleared, or eased back in
• Whether Pittsburgh’s preseason opener against Green Bay on August 13 gives any hint of how the touches are distributed early

None of this is settled. That’s the point — Pittsburgh has two real position battles going in the same week the roster is supposed to be taking shape, and the loudest signal (the printed depth chart) is currently the least reliable one.