Panthers placed RB Jonathon Brooks on the physically unable to perform list, meaning he now will be out for the 2025 season.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle, Trevor Etienne

With the additions of Dowdle and Etienne (fourth round), this was a distinct possibility, and now the move has been made quite early in the post-Draft season. Brooks will be a tough gamble for 2026, but here's hoping for a full recovery for the young back.

The Panthers have agreed to a 1-year deal with RB Rico Dowdle, per league source.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard

Carolina recently released Miles Sanders, so Dowdle should operate as an upgrade over the veteran. This is a much bigger hit to Hubbard's fantasy ceiling than Sanders functioned as last season, but it's not the best spot for Dowdle's fantasy aspirations, either.

If there are no more additions to the backfield, we should consider Hubbard a low-end RB2 and Dowdle a fringe RB3/4.

Former Broncos RB Javonte Williams is signing a one-year, $3 million deal with the Cowboys, per sources. Max $3.5M with incentives.

Related Players: Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn

This likely means that Dowdle will be out of the picture, but his re-signing is still up in the air as it stands. The Cowboys are still (very) likely to grab a running back with decent draft capital, so Williams' fantasy impact is capped, but he can be considered somewhere in the RB3/4 range with good opportunity to open the year.

Starting in Washington, this is now his third straight week Rico Dowdle taking 70%+ of the carries.

Related players: Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn, Dalvin Cook

The post went on to say Dowdle was averaging 48% of the Cowboys' carries over the course of his first nine games. Pittsburgh was the only week he got more than 57% of the team's carries. We did report, even starting back in summer, that Dowdle was the best RB on the team according to those who cover the Cowboys. Unfortunately for owners, it took some time for Dowdle to become the clear RB1, but for those who own him heading into the playoffs, this is a comforting stat to know. The next question will be what is Dowdle's future with the Cowboys. With so many needs and questions heading into 2025, it's possible Dowdle is back as an overall inexpensive option.

Mike McCarthy moving away from running back by committee concept, declaring Rico Dowdle the No. 1 RB. “Rico needs to touch the ball,” he said.

Related Players: Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn, Dalvin Cook, Hunter Luepke

This is great and all, but the Cooper Rush-led offense looked beyond miserable last week, and it's hard to see how it's going to get much better moving forward. Consider Dowdle a high-floor/low-ceiling RB3 in Week 11.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will have surgery tomorrow and miss the rest of the season.

That’s the word from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who said today on 105.3 The Fan that Prescott is in New York, has consulted with doctors there, and has scheduled the season-ending surgery for Wednesday.

Related players: Cooper Rush, Trey Lance, CeeDee Lamb, Rico Dowdle

Jones said Prescott's, "prognosis is wonderful," so he should be good to go in time for next season, as the recovery timeline is about three months according to the story. The Cowboys announced Rush will get the start in Week 11, but Lance is lingering in the background and could get the call if Rush struggles like he did against the Eagles. So far, it seems like a big downgrade for the Cowboys offense.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury was worse than initially feared. He is expected to miss multiple weeks, sources tell me and Tom Pelissero.

Related players: Cooper Rush, CeeDee Lamb, Rico Dowdle

Some thought it would initially be a short-term injury, but that doesn't appear to be the case. It's a big blow for the Cowboys who were already struggling this year, but Rush at QB likely won't help the overall passing game, and it's a downgrade for Lamb owners as well. The Cowboys could try and play a little more a ball-control offense, but their run game is among the worst in the league. The Cowboys will host the Eagles this week who have been on a bit of a roll defensively.

"He definitely needs to touch the ball more, without a doubt." - Mike McCarthy on Rico Dowdle.

Related players: Ezekiel Elliott

Elliott was the only other RB to touch the ball, running 8 times for 17 yards in Week 6. Dowdle ran just 5 times but gained 25 yards. Dowdle was more involved in the passing game since the Cowboys fell behind early, and he caught 5 balls for 30 yards. Dowdle did touch the ball 22 times in Week 5 against the Steelers to Elliott's 6 rushes, so the Cowboys do seem to be trending away from the committee in favor of Dowdle, which was reported a couple weeks ago. The game script probably played a factor in Week 6. The Cowboys have a bye in Week 7 and come back to a game at San Francisco in Week 8 on Sunday night, so it's possible we see a more obvious use of Dowdle with any adjustments coming off the bye week.

The running back situation has been as confounding as it has been disappointing. The Cowboys are starting to drift away from a pure committee approach, in the sense that Rico Dowdle’s snap counts and rush attempts are noticeably greater than Ezekiel Elliott or Deuce Vaughn’s.

Related players: Dalvin Cook

The story said Elliott's value is more leadership and pass protection, and it has not been in the form of purely running the football. The story added injuries on the defense may affect when Cook is able to join the roster, but the story added Cook's time could be coming soon. For now, it looks like Dowdle is at least trending in the right direction despite the team's struggles running the ball.

Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle have carried the load at running back, but the Cowboys signed Dalvin Cook to their practice squad in August so they could turn in his direction in an effort to find a spark. Team owner Jerry Jones threw cold water on that idea during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan, however.

Jones said he is “pleased” with how the backs have performed and that he doesn’t expect the team will call Cook’s number.

The Cowboys are averaging less than four yards per carry through the first two weeks of the season, the story pointed out. But Jones was quoted in the story saying, "I don't see a change that could involved Dalvin Cook this week."