The Carolina Panthers are 2-3 in the first five weeks of the season, with both their wins coming at home in impressive fashion. They housed the Falcons, 30-0, in Week 3 — and after looking awful on the road against the Patriots, they bounced back with a huge comeback in Week 4 to beat the Dolphins. Rico Dowdle was the unlikely hero in that comeback win over Miami, but can he be a reliable fantasy asset in Week 6 against the Cowboys? Let’s take a look at the latest injury update on Chuba Hubbard’s calf and how it will impact Dowdle this week.
After his breakout performance, how should you approach Dowdle and the Panthers’ backfield for both DFS and season-long fantasy football? Let’s break it down.
Chuba Hubbard Injury Update
The Panthers’ backfield was a timeshare led by Hubbard until last week, when Hubbard missed practice and was ultimately sidelined for Week 5. He wasn’t initially expected to miss any time, and the injury is still not expected to be serious long-term. However, this is the second straight year he’s dealt with a calf injury, and it kept him out of two games towards the end of last season as well. Now, he’s set to miss a second straight game.
Hubbard was initially considered “day-to-day” for Sunday’s contest against Dallas, but has since been officially ruled out for the matchup, the Panthers announced on Friday.
Dowdle’s Big Breakthrough
With Hubbard out last week, Dowdle dominated the Dolphins, racking up an impressive 206 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, while also adding in three catches for 28 more yards on his way to 35.4 fantasy points — the highest total of any player at any position in Week 5.
When given a chance, Dowdle had already been productive in his limited role throughout the season, but the extra workload led to a true ceiling game for the 27-year-old South Carolina alum.
Dowdle spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Cowboys, so he’ll have a chance for a revenge game against his former squad this Sunday. Not only is there the added motivation, but the Cowboys are a good matchup for any running back; they have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to the position this season, giving up five running back touchdowns in five games and allowing 91.4 rushing yards and 59.8 receiving yards per game to the position.
The Panthers have seen how effective Dowdle can be when they feed him the rock, and he’s set up in a smash spot again this week.
The Bottom Line
Dowdle was the No. 12 RB in my RB rankings this week, assuming Hubbard was out, but that may actually be a little low for him. He will definitely be a must-start in all season-long formats that use two RBs, and he has true RB1 potential in this favorable matchup.
For DFS, Dowdle is extremely affordable still at only $5,800 in one-week contests, like this week’s NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] on DraftKings. He’ll be a popular bargain play after his monster game last week, but he brings a high enough ceiling to be worth eating the chalk and finding other spots to differentiate your lineup.
If Hubbard is out, Trevor Etienne ($4,300) could also be an interesting DFS contrarian flier play since he was more involved as a change-of-pace for Dowdle last week.
