Who Should I Start? Rico Dowdle or Tyjae Spears

Saturday, August 9, 4:08 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle showed a glimpse of his potential as a pass-catching threat in the team's preseason debut against the Cleveland Browns, recording one reception for 20 yards to go along with two rushes for seven yards. The 27-year-old running back is entering his sixth season in the NFL after spending his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys, which was riddled with injuries. Dowdle is clearly behind Chuba Hubbard on the depth chart, but could carve out a role in the Panthers' receiving or two-minute offense in 2025. Coming off an underwhelming 2024 season in Dallas, where high hopes for the lead back role didn't materialize (235-1,079-2 on the ground, 39-249-3 in the air), a move to a new location and a backup role could take some pressure off Dowdle and allow him to grow into his potential. Rotoballer currently projects him as RB55, but Dowdle could be a sneaky stash if anything happens to Hubbard throughout the season.

Sunday, August 10, 1:05 PM

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan said that running back Tyjae Spears (ankle) will miss a couple of weeks at least after he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Saturday's preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and had to be carted off the field. This means that Spears should be considered questionable to play in the Week 1 regular-season opener on Sept. 7 against the Denver Broncos. The 24-year-old was set to take on a bigger role in the Titans' backfield to take some of the burden off of Tony Pollard, but that might have to wait for now. With Spears out of action for at least a couple of weeks, it will create more change-of-pace opportunities for both Julius Chestnut and rookie Kalel Mullings behind Pollard. With the injury, Spears is now ranked as the RB46 in fantasy at RotoBaller.