Who Should I Start? Rico Dowdle or Trey Sermon

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.

Saturday, November 8, 9:42 AM

The Pittsburgh Steelers have promoted running back Trey Sermon to their active roster from the practice squad ahead of their Week 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Sermon has only appeared in three games this season for Pittsburgh, logging just one offensive snap and working almost entirely on special teams. The 26-year-old should be expected to play in a similar role on Sunday night against the Chargers, and potentially be in the mix for some touches on offense if one of the Steelers running backs ahead of him were to go down.