Who Should I Start? Jakobi Meyers or Rico Dowdle

Friday, May 30, 12:27 PM

The Athletic's Tashan Reed reports that the Las Vegas Raiders are moving their receivers around a lot during voluntary organized team activities. Jakobi Meyers and rookie Jack Bech have lined up frequently at both outside and slot receiver, while Tre Tucker and Dont'e Thornton have mostly been locked in on the outside. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly should be able to get pretty creative with his alignments based on the fact that tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer both have the ability to line up at slot or on the outside. Meyers had the best season of his career in 2024 with 87 catches, 1,027 yards and four touchdowns and is entering the final season of his contract in 2025. The 28-year-old benefitted from a pass-happy offense last year that was often playing from behind. While he gets an upgrade at QB with Geno Smith, the Raiders offense is now expected to be more run-heavy, likely leading to a regression in Meyers' numbers.

Tuesday, July 1, 9:24 PM

The Charlotte Observer's Alex Zietlow writes that Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle will split carries with rookie Trevor Etienne as the backups to lead back Chuba Hubbard in 2025. Dowdle is coming of a 1,000-yard season with the Dallas Cowboys in his first year as a lead back, but he'll be working behind Hubbard. As the RB2 last year in Carolina, Miles Sanders only had 55 carries, although he was mostly injured and ineffective. Zietlow adds that the Panthers will want to find out what they have in Etienne before Jonathon Brooks (knee) returns in 2026. If anything, the 27-year-old Dowdle will take away valuable pass-catching opportunities from Hubbard on third downs in his first year in Carolina, but it's going to be hard to justify him as an every-week fantasy starter as long as Hubbard stays healthy. Dowdle is ranked as RotoBaller's RB50 going into the 2025 season.