Fantasy Football Managers Become Fed Up With How Dave Canales Uses Rico Dowdle
In this story:
Rico Dowdle has been a Waiver Wire gem over the past couple months. He likely has you finding great success in your quest for a Championship. As of recent, he has plateaud a bit, perhaps paving way for a Chuba Hubbard re-surgence. Leave it up to us to analyze the situation and project how the Panthers do trend as a 6-6 team that is fighting for the playoffs. This is your Dowdle Stock Watch.
2025 Stats: Rico Dowdle
Dowdle has played all 12 Games for the Panthers, whereas Hubbard had missed two games himself. Dowdle has 174 Attempts (54% Share), 871 Yards, and 5 Touchdowns. In the receiving game, Dowdle has 32 Targets (9% Targets Share), 233 Yards, and 1 Touchdown. This makes Dowdle the RB9 in PPR formats.
The good news here is that, despite Dowdle's lingering injury, he is still out-snapping Hubbard in a notable fashion. This is how they compare in Rushing Attempts over the past three games:
Week | Rico Dowdle Attempts | Chuba Hubbard Attempts |
|---|---|---|
10 | 18 | 3 |
11 | 19 | 4 |
12 | 6 | 3 |
Why the Struggles?
😵💫
— Rico Dowdle (@ricodowdle) November 25, 2025
It has appeared that many Panthers fan have become a bit angry with Dave Canales. Dowdle has been ultra efficient all year long, but Canales tends to limit his carries at times.
Game script is game script, and the Panthers were trailing all night on Monday. However, it is no excuse to have (13) Team Rushing Attempts to (29) Pass Attempts. Dowdle had been averaging (6.3) Yards per Carry on Monday Night.
Although the Panthers won and Young threw for 448 Yards, they did run the ball just over 30% of the time in Week 11.
Canales saw Rico rip this toss play off for 17 yards to open the third quarter and only called a designed run to Dowdle one more time for the remainder of the game (on 1st-and-20 just plays later)#Panthers were only trailing by seven points pic.twitter.com/tgnAo2ZmKr
— Ricky Raines (@rickyboboddy) November 25, 2025
At times, Dowdle has also lacked great Yards per Carry. The Panthers are 19th in Run Block Win Rate, which is subpar, but not abysmal. Perhaps Canales can scheme up this run game a bit better going forward. They are a Top-10 Rushing Offense, but that is on the heels of two great game back in October. They have the legs to be better.
What to Expect
The Panthers are very well in the hunt right now. They must be sharp and they must win ball games. It would be rash to keep limiting carries within this offense. Dowdle does appear to remain the heavy, lead-back, so that will remain to keep him with Top-10 value at Running Back.
This is the Panthers upcoming schedule (Rank vs Running Backs):
- vs Rams (2nd)
- Bye Week
- @ Saints (19th)* Playoffs
- vs Buccaneers (24th)* Playoffs
- vs Seahawks (6th)* Playoffs
- @ Buccaneers (24th)
Over the next two weeks, Dowdle is unlikely to be a game-winner for your Fantasy Football team. He faces a 2nd ranked Rams unit followed by a late bye week. If you are in the playoff push, you are in a tough spot. Dowdle is a must-start, but he may also lack upside. Be hopeful that you get to the postseason and then, you have favorable matchups in the first two rounds.
Stock Watch
Dowdle maintains his workload and so that provides great insight into your situation. He will remain as a high-end RB2, in my opinion. He will be able to thrive in the playoff weeks.
Buy, Sell, or Hold: Rico Dowdle
If I were in a very tight spot to make the playoffs, I would try and sell off Dowdle, that is if your trade deadline has not passed. You may be able to get the short-term returns that you need.
For the most part, Dowdle is a hold. He has great volume on a run-heavy offense and he should pay you out, despite recent game scripting troubles working against Dowdle.
More Fantasy Sports On SI News:
Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.