Rico Dowdle has been quite the find for the Cowboys this season.
There’s not much positive you can say about the 2024 Dallas Cowboys. But even as we’re all ready to be done with this season, the thick gloom surrounding the team has a few silver linings. One of them is Rico Dowdle, who is managing to look good as the primary running back even with little help from the rest of the offense.
The Cowboys were held to a putrid 49 net passing yards against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday. Despite that, Dowdle still had 53 rushing yards on just 12 carries. He was at about the same per-carry production as he’s had all year, a solid 4.5 average. That may not be a Derrick Henry (6.1) or Saquon Barkley (5.8) number, but it’s better than some of the league’s other top rushers like Kyren Williams (3.8), James Conner (4.4), and Alvin Kamara (4.3).
Dowdle has had to fight his way into true RB1 status for the Cowboys this year. While he’s started all but one of the eight games he’s played in, Dowdle’s watched too many touches go to Ezekiel Elliott as Dallas has stubbornly dabbled with their aging veteran. At every turn, it’s been obvious who their best back is. But politics has had its impact on the field, and Zeke has been given opportunities that no other team would’ve offered.
This is hardly the first time that Dowdle has had to persevere in his NFL career. Undrafted out of South Carolina in 2020, he earned his way onto the 53-man roster as a strong special teamer and depth option behind Elliott and Tony Pollard. He was on track to do it again the next year before a preseason hip injury. In 2022, he beat out Malik Davis for a roster spot but again got hurt.
To their credit, Dallas stuck by Dowdle and brought him back in 2023 despite the medical history. He rewarded them with a 16-game campaign of solid work as Pollard’s backup. On average, he looked better with his touches than the franchise-tagged Pollard. It was enough to get him another chance this year on a one-year contract for a little over $1 million.
If the Cowboys continue to treat Dowdle as a true starter then he has a good shot at hitting 1,000 total yards. With eight games left he’s already at 540, if you combine rushing and receiving yardage. And this is despite missing one game due to illness and many touches going to others on the RB depth chart.
Unfortunately, Dowdle probably won’t get much financial reward from his effort and impending free agency. He turns 27 next June, which is almost geriatric in modern RB terms, and does still have that injury history to concern potential suitors. At the most, he might get a modest deal to come and compete for a starting gig with backup duty as a consolation prize.
That next contract could easily come from Dallas. With Elliott and Cook highly unlikely to return, plus Deuce Vaughn having yet to show any real value, Dowdle is your one true asset at the position. Even if the Cowboys are dead set on finding a new star at RB in next year’s draft, Dowdle makes for a solid insurance policy and, at worst, a strong depth player. You know John Fassel would be happy to get him back on special teams if the offensive duties lessen.
We’ve often trashed Jerry Jones for his loyalty to players, and it’s certainly burned him more than once. We’re seeing that right now with Elliott. But in Rico Dowdle’s case, the team fought with him through those injury years and finally saw the better chapters of his story. If 2024 is his last one in Dallas, then at least he gave us one glimmer of enjoyment in an otherwise frustrating season. We’ll see if it earns him continued loyalty from the Cowboys in 2025, or if other teams see his value and a market develops.