See red zone opportunities inside the 20, 10 and 5-yard lines along with the percentage of time they converted the opportunity into a touchdown.
How do Rico Dowdle’s 2025 advanced stats compare to other running backs?
This section compares his advanced stats with players at the same position. The bar represents the player’s percentile rank. The longer the bar, the better it is for the player.
The bars represents the team’s percentile rank (based on QB Rating Against). The longer the bar, the better their pass defense is. The team and position group ratings only include players that are currently on the roster and not on injured reserve. The list of players in the table only includes defenders with at least 3 attempts against them.
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Saturday, Jan 3rd at 4:30PM
Overall QB Rating Against
73.2
Dowdle is an interesting fringe prospect and a fine part of the Dallas roster, but he’s probably not the type of backup who can truly take over for a starter if an emergency arises. He looks the part of a powerful runner at 5-11, 215, but he struggled with injuries at South Carolina and never lived up to the promise of his 2016 freshman season. That initial campaign produced his collegiate highs for touches (148), total yards (819) and touchdowns (seven), with Dowdle limited by injuries, fumbles and/or timeshares thereafter. He then hung around the back end of the Cowboys’ roster and practice squad for three years after going undrafted in 2020, finally getting his big break in 2023 as the No. 2 back behind Tony Pollard (who didn’t miss any games). There’s another opportunity on hand with Pollard gone and replaced by 29-year-old Ezekiel Elliott, but Dowdle’s mediocre work last season (4.1 YPC last season) leaves his depth chart standing in question, with anywhere from first to fourth looking possible as camp approaches.
The 25-year-old has just seven NFL carries since being signed as an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina in 2020, as injuries have disrupted his career so far, but Dowdle drew high marks in training camp for his football IQ and blocking ability. His value as a special-teams player could secure him a spot on the 53-man roster regardless of how much usage he sees on offense.
A 2020 undrafted free agent, Dowdle earned a spot on special teams and saw brief action on offense in a couple games but didn’t impress with his seven carries. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are locked into the top two spots on the depth chart, so Dowdle may not see a big increase in snaps in his second NFL campaign, but the Cowboys seem comfortable with him in the No. 3 role.
Dowdle never matched the 764 rushing yards and 5.7 YPC he posted as a freshman in 2016, and as a result he went undrafted out of South Carolina. He does possess adequate athleticism and a versatile skill set and could carve out a depth role in the NFL, but gameday snaps on offense will be hard to find in Dallas behind Ezekiel Elliott.