Rico Dowdle

Despite his incredible efficiency and his standout performances this season, Dowdle took a back seat to Chuba Hubbard last week with a 43.5% snap rate, a 20.8% route share, and a 10% target share. Dowdle has outplayed Hubbard handily on a per-touch basis. Among 57 qualifying backs, Dowdle ranks 13th in explosive run rate, 17th in missed tackle rate, and sixth in yards after contact per attempt. Last week, Dowdle finished with 20 touches and 79 total yards, seeing a touch or a target on 20 of his 27 snaps played. That type of usage on a per-snap basis is difficult to maintain. You're threading a fine needle, so if Dowdle's snap count doesn't flip back in the other direction, he could become volatile, while on the surface it looked like he got an RB2-level workload in his last game. Dowdle is a strong flex and could be an RB2 this week (RB36 in Week 13). Since Week 10, New Orleans has allowed the tenth-most rushing yards per game, the 13th-most yards before contact per attempt, and the third-highest yards per carry to zone runs (Hubbard 58.6% zone).

Rico Dowdle ran for 58 yards on 15 carries in the Panthers 31-28 win over the Rams. He also caught 2-of-2 targets for 21 yards receiving.

Fantasy Impact

Dowdle had one big run for 17 yards, but he was otherwise shut down on the ground. He was outshined by Chuba Hubbard who saw 17 carries with a receiving score. It appears that it's becoming more of a committee right now in the Panthers backfield, moving Dowdle back to RB2 status.