Mindset is a Attitude

by Bo Marchionte
@bomarchionte | College2Pro.com
Published March 13, 2026, 3:59 PM

They never called his name.

Seven rounds came and went in the spring of 2020 and Rico Dowdle sat there the way hundreds of young football players do every year waiting, hoping, and eventually realizing the phone would ring, just not from the draft stage.

Undrafted.

For some players it’s a scar.

For others it becomes a badge.

Dowdle wears it the way Pittsburgh running backs tend to wear everything with mud on the shoulders and a little extra force at the point of contact.

Toughness resonates around the city even with the steel mills and blast furnaces all but museum artifacts.

The road out of South Carolina wasn’t smooth. Injuries lingered through college. Scouts saw the ability, but the availability raised questions. When draft rooms start splitting hairs, durability becomes an easy excuse to move on.

Dowdle understands that reality.

“Yeah, I definitely would say the injuries played a part,” he admitted. “I never played a full season in college. But when I’ve been on the field, in college or the NFL, I think I’ve been productive.”

Productive is one way to put it.

Two different seasons later in his career one with Dallas (1,079 yards) and another with Carolina (1,076), Dowdle proved that undrafted players sometimes simply need a door instead of a draft card.

That first door came from a familiar voice.

“Coach (Mike) McCarthy and the Cowboys gave me my first opportunity in the NFL,” Dowdle said. “I was with him in Dallas for like five years, built that relationship with him. It definitely played a major role in my decision.”

Relationships matter in football. Trust matters more.

But the Steelers didn’t just bring in a runner. They may have accidentally built the toughest pound-for-pound backfield pairing in the league.

Because waiting inside the locker room is another man who never heard his name called either.

Jaylen Warren.

Undrafted out of Oklahoma State in 2022.

Five-foot-eight.

Two-hundred-fifteen pounds.

Built like a bowling ball that refuses to slow down.

Dowdle isn’t much different at 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, compact and violent between the tackles.

Scouts often talk about “run temperament.” It’s not speed or size. It’s that internal wiring that tells a runner the collision is the destination, not something to avoid.

Dowdle had it even as a kid.

“When I was little, I always took pride,” he said. “You see somebody get trucked, that’s one thing you want to do.”

That mentality travels.

Warren noticed it from afar long before they became teammates.

“Actually, Jaylen reached out to me during the season last year,” Dowdle said. “He said he liked my style of play. Just keep putting on for the undrafted guys.”

Now the two share a backfield.

“Me and Jaylen, we’re pretty north and south, vertical guys.”

That might be the most understated scouting report you’ll hear this year.

North and south means decisive.

Vertical means violent.

And undrafted means neither player ever forgot the feeling of being passed over.

Steelers fans have always respected that type.

Because sometimes the most dangerous players in the league aren’t the ones introduced on draft night.

They’re the ones still trying to prove the league wrong every Sunday.

And if Dowdle and Warren have anything to say about it, the Steelers backfield might soon become a weekly reminder that the draft doesn’t measure heart.

Only opportunity.

I cheer for these guys the most.

Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com