Rico Dowdle absolutely must start Sunday for Panthers vs. Cowboys

Giving running back Rico Dowdle lots of carries on Sunday vs. the Cowboys is important. Recent history says giving him the start vs. Dallas may be the real key.

Oct 5, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle (5) carries the ball during the second quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images / Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

Flashback to Week 15 of the 2024 season. Dave Canales’s team was in the midst of a three-game losing streak, losing close decisions to the Chiefs (30-27), Buccaneers (26-23), and Eagles (22-16)—all postseason bound—by a combined 12 points. The Dallas Cowboys were in Charlotte, and the Carolina Panthers’ horrid run defense had zero answers that day.

Cowboys’ running back Rico Dowdle had what was the best day of his career at the time. He carried 29 times for 149 yards in his team’s 30-14 victory. He finished his final season with Jerry Jones’s team with a personal-best 1,079 yards on the ground, with a pair of TD runs. Dallas let him test free agency, and the Panthers inked Dowdle to a one-year, $2.75 million deal (via Spotrac).

Dec 15, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle (23) runs out of a tackle by Carolina Panthers linebacker Claudin Cherelus (53) during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

In his first four games with Canales’s club this season, Dowdle totaled 28 carries for 83 yards and a score in spelling Chuba Hubbard. Last Sunday, he got his first start with the Panthers with Hubbard sidelined. He wound up having the productive performance in the league by a running back in terms of rushing yards this season. Dowdle totaled 23 carries for 206 yards and one score in Carolina’s 27-24 comeback win over the Miami Dolphins—a new career high for rushing yardage for the young running back.

Hubbard hasn’t practiced this week so far, and Dowdle is expected to get the start on Sunday vs. his former team. Start is the key word here.

Going back to his last seven starts, six with Dallas and last Sunday vs. Miami, the five-year pro has totaled 146 carries for 797 yards and three touchdowns. Dowdle has run for at least 100 yards in five of those seven outings. Now he takes aim at a Cowboys’ defense that has allowed the most total yards per game in the league (412.0). That includes 127.4 yards per game on the ground.

There’s a sense that both Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik are going to let Dowdle eat on Sunday.

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