Who Should I Start? Noah Brown or Rico Dowdle

Wednesday, July 23, 8:52 PM

The Athletic's Ben Standig reports that Washington Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown (undisclosed) will join training camp practices soon but needs a bit of a ramp-up period and rest days. The Commanders placed Brown on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list to begin camp, but he could be back sooner than later. The 29-year-old was carted off the field on June 11 at minicamp, but the Commanders never specified what type of injury he was dealing with. It shouldn't really matter, though, as Brown should have enough time to get ready for Week 1 of the regular season if he can return to practice soon. When he does, he'll be competing for playing time as the No. 3 receiver behind Terry McLaurin and newcomer Deebo Samuel Sr. Brown missed the final two months of 2024 with a kidney injury and could face stiff competition from Luke McCaffrey.

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.