RicoDowdle

News: 4 days agoCowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Thursday that Dowdle will get less work on special teams this season due to an expected increase in his workload on offense, Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Spin: The South Carolina product saw a career-high 106 touches over 16 regular-season games last season, leading to 505 scrimmage yards and four total touchdowns, but those numbers figure to spike significantly in 2024. It's still unclear how the backfield workload will be divided between Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott and recent free-agent signee Dalvin Cook, who will begin the season on the practice squad, but it wouldn't be a surprise if Dowdle handled at least a plurality of the touches out of the gate given his versatility and three-down skill set.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Dowdle saw limited offensive snaps during his first three NFL seasons after joining Dallas as an undrafted free agent, but Year 4 was his relative breakout, with 505 yards from scrimmage. The main backup to now-departed Tony Pollard rushed for more than 50 yards in only one game, though he saw regular action on special teams. The Cowboys brought back franchise icon Ezekiel Elliott after a year away and he figures to handle most of the touches, at least early on, diluting Dowdle's potential value. There is opportunity for a Dallas RB, but it is hard to see Dowdle as anything more than an RB5.