Who Should I Start? Rico Dowdle or Jerome Ford

Monday, December 15, 1:15 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle rushed for 49 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown in Carolina's Week 15 loss to New Orleans on Sunday. He added five receiving yards on one reception and totaled 12.4 PPR points. Dowdle outperformed Chuba Hubbard, who registered 38 scrimmage yards and 4.8 PPR points. Despite the workload being mostly split between the two RBs, Dowdle logged the most snaps (60%). In Week 16, the Panthers will face their NFC South rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay ranked 16th in fantasy points per game allowed to the RB position in the last four weeks leading up to Week 15. Even though Dowdle has a middling matchup this week, he is still worth starting as an RB2 or flex option based on his volume. In his last five games, he has fewer than 16 carries once, and he averaged 15.4 carries per game.

Tuesday, December 9, 4:41 PM

The Cleveland Browns have placed running back Jerome Ford (shoulder) on Injured Reserve on Tuesday. With only four games remaining, Ford's season will come to an end after suffering a shoulder injury during Cleveland's Week 14 loss to the Tennessee Titans. The 26-year-old totaled 24 carries for 73 yards to go with 26 receptions (32 targets) for 103 yards in 13 games this season as Cleveland's primary passing-down back. His role gradually faded as the season went along, playing just 21.8% of the offensive snaps since Week 7. Rookie Quinshon Judkins will continue to lead Cleveland's backfield, while rookie Dylan Sampson will be the main beneficiary of Ford's absence and should be considered as a waiver-wire pickup in deep PPR leagues this week as RB depth.