Who Should I Start? Rico Dowdle or Trey Benson

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.

Friday, July 25, 6:37 PM

Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson is poised to take a step forward, according to the team's head coach Jonathan Gannon. Despite a quiet rookie season, the Cardinals are still high on their former third-round pick. Benson rushed for 291 yards on 63 carries while scoring one touchdown on the ground in 13 games last season. James Conner remains the lead back in Arizona and that isn't going to change this summer. Benson should enter the season as the primary backup and is hopefully going to get more involved. Despite that, Benson probably won't have weekly fantasy value unless Conner goes down at some point.