Who Should I Start? Rico Dowdle or Trey Benson

Sunday, January 11, 12:48 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle, who will be a free agent in March, said his decreased number of carries at the end of the season will impact his thinking in free agency, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. Dowdle said he wants to go somewhere "where he can get the bulk of the carries." The 27-year-old was an unquestioned RB1 during the 2025 season when Chuba Hubbard missed time with an injury. However, Dowdle was involved in more of a timeshare late in the year following Hubbard's return, and he watched Hubbard score twice in the Wild-Card loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday. He had only five rushing attempts for nine yards while adding one catch on two targets for six yards. In the final four regular-season games, Dowdle averaged only 3.3 yards per carry as his role shrank. It sounds as though Dowdle doesn't plan on signing in Carolina, but it remains to be seen if he'll be able to land a lead-back role elsewhere in free agency.

Wednesday, December 10, 12:00 PM

Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson (knee) will not be activated off Injured Reserve for the team's Week 15 matchup against the Houston Texans, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Since Benson will not return within his 21-day activation window, he will revert to season-ending IR and will not be eligible to return in 2025. Benson suffered a knee injury in Week 4 that was serious enough to land him on IR, but was not thought at the time to be season-ending. It's unclear whether the 23-year-old suffered a setback once his activation window was opened, or if the 3-10 Cardinals are simply choosing to be cautious with their potential running back of the future. Either way, Benson should now be completely off the radar of redraft fantasy managers for the remainder of 2025. His absence ups the value of Cardinals running backs Bam Knight and Michael Carter, who should continue to see the majority of the team's backfield snaps. Emari Demercado (ankle) could play a role in Arizona as well once he returns from the ankle injury that has sidelined him since Week 11.