Week 7 Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Rico Dowdle vs. Rachaad White

Rico Dowdle’s breakout run meets Rachaad White’s steady workload in a Week 7 fantasy football matchup that could define backfield trust for the rest of the season.

Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle (5) runs with the ball during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at Bank of America Stadium. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Over the past two games, Rico Dowdle delivered epic stats (474 combined yards with two touchdowns and seven catches) and fantasy points (66.30 in PPR formats), considering his preview success and emptiness over his first four games in 2025 (28/83/1 – 3.0 yards per carry with five catches for 20 yards). Every fantasy team rostering him wants Chuba Hubbard to take more time off.

A Fantasy Football Look Back

In 2012, I managed two teams in the high-stakes market that made the postseason. Both teams needed to win in Weeks 12 and 13 to advance to the championship round of the postseason. Bryce Brown was a backup running back at the time, and he had minimal stats over his first 10 games (32/141/0 with one catch for eight yards). An injury to LeSean McCoy in Week 11 led to Brown being added to fantasy teams before the fantasy playoffs.

Team 1 in the postseason faced a Brown team. He proceeded to post a career game (19/178/2 with four catches for 11 yards) to knock out our team from the playoffs. The following week, the second team had about a 62.00 fantasy point lead over a team with Tony Romo and Bryce Brown left. The Eagles’ backup running back delivered another 30.00+ fantasy point day (24/169/2 with four catches for 14) while Tony Romo also had a career day (303/3 with three rush for 14 yards). They combined to score 62.85 fantasy points, sending our team to the showers. 

Over these two games, Brown amassed 372 combined yards with four touchdowns and eight catches on 51 touches, while scoring 69.20 fantasy points. The following week, Philadelphia handed the ball 12 times, and he gained only six yards while catching two of his four targets for another six yards. In his fourth start of his career in Week 15 in 2012, the Bengals held him to 34 yards on 16 carries with one catch for 11 yards. Over the remainder of his career, Brown never had more than 10 carries in a game (29 chances).

Chuba Hubbard Expected Back in Week 7

With Chuba Hubbard pining to get back on the field and stiff-arm Dowdle, the fantasy market is caught with a decision of riding the hot hand, flipping back to Hubbard if both players are on the same team, or taking their fantasy profits and play another running back.

The Jets are about league average defending running backs based on fantasy points allowed (132.40) in PPR formats. They’ve allowed the second-most rushing attempts to backs (154) but allowed only 4.1 yards per carry with five scores on the ground. Running backs also have 18 catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 25 targets (5.6 yards per catch). James Cook (21/132/2 with one catch for three yards) and Javonte Williams (16/135/1 with a four-yard touchdown catch) have posted great games.

Over the first four games, the Panthers had Dowdle on the field for 36.9% of their plays, compared to 67.3% by Hubbard.

Rachaad White Gets Another Start

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White (1) carries the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at Lumen Field. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Rachaad White earns his third start this week with Bucky Irving injured. Tampa gave him 38 touches over their past two matchups, leading to 157 combined yards with three touchdowns and seven catches (20.35 FPPG in PPR formats). He’s been on the field for 78.9% of their plays over this span. 

The Lions have played well against running backs (109/438/4 – 4.0 YPR with 29 catches for 164 yards and no touchdowns on 38 targets).

This year, the Buccaneers’ running backs rank seventh in fantasy points (156.20 – 26.03 per game). Carolina, after Dowdle’s two big games, jumped to fifth in running back fantasy points (163.50 – 27.25 per game). 

Conclusion: Rico Dowdle vs. Rachaad White

In the end, the Panthers and Buccaneers have similar matchups based on paper stats. White’s pass-catching floor and close to 80% snap count should be much better than a split role for Dowdle on the road. I expect Sean Tucker to be a factor at the goal line, and Tampa's scoring power is reduced with Emeka Egbuka injured. 

I respect what Dowdle has done, and I could still see him outperforming Hubbard in this matchup. In my early week projections, I had the Panthers’ backfield projected to score about 20.00 fantasy points. I will update Carolina’s running back split on Friday, once Hubbard is officially cleared to play.

Fire up White over Dowdle in Week 7 matchups with Hubbard likely back in action.