• Rico Dowdle has worked his way to becoming a starting-caliber player: The undrafted free agent was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys in 2020 and spent years as a special-teamer while dealing with injuries before finally winning the starting job last season.

• The Carolina Panthers‘ new handcuff running back: Dowdle landed in Carolina, where he will simply be Chuba Hubbard‘s handcuff.

• Subscribe to PFF+: Get access to player grades, PFF Premium Stats, fantasy football rankings, all of the PFF fantasy draft research tools and more!

Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

PFF’s Fantasy Football Player Profile series delivers the most in-depth fantasy football analysis available for the 2025 season.

Using PFF’s exclusive data, we evaluate player performance, competition for touches and how teammates and coaching staffs will impact each player's fantasy football outlook.

Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Monday, June 16

Player Performance

Rico Dowdle was an undrafted rookie out of South Carolina in 2020 who made the Dallas Cowboys‘ roster in his first season. He was primarily a special-teams player, logging more than 200 special-teams snaps compared to 13 offensive snaps in his rookie campaign. He missed all of 2021 with a hip injury and played significantly on special teams and barely on offense again in 2022 before suffering an ankle injury, which cost him the rest of that season.

---

Exclusive content for premium subscribers

WANT TO KEEP READING?

Dominate Fantasy Football & Betting with AI-Powered Data & Tools Trusted By All 32 Teams

Subscribe now

Already have a subscription? Log in