Rico Dowdle Week 9 Outlook - Cowboys at Falcons

By Derek Brown (FantasyPros), Thu, Oct 31st 2024, 1:05pm EDT

Dowdle was a surprise inactive last week as he fell ill quickly with a 102 fever. He opened this week with a full practice, so I expect him to resume his role as leader of this backfield after a week where Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook both looked washed. In his two games played prior to Detroit throttling Dallas, Dowdle played 45-50% of the snaps, averaging 17 touches and 87.5 total yards. He was the RB22 and the RB3 in weekly scoring. He hasn't managed an explosive run this season while only having a 7% missed tackle rate and 2.25 yards after contact per attempt. Those numbers don't inspire confidence, but there's no back on this depth chart that should be challenging him for the team lead in work. Atlanta has been giving to backs, allowing the 12th-most rushing yards per game, the sixth-highest missed tackle rate, and the 14th-highest explosive run rate.