Who Should I Start? Ty Johnson or Rico Dowdle

Wednesday, January 7, 3:31 PM

Buffalo Bills running back Ty Johnson (ankle) was unable to practice on Wednesday due to an ankle injury that he suffered in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the New York Jets on Sunday. Before his injury, Johnson handled a season-high 13 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown and added two catches for 20 yards and another score with the Bills resting starting RB James Cook after the opening drive. The 28-year-old is now in danger of missing Wild-Card weekend on Sunday versus the Jacksonville Jaguars if he's unable to return to practice the next two days. Johnson isn't a realistic fantasy option if he's able to suit up this weekend with both Cook and Ray Davis fully healthy. If Johnson cannot go against the Jags, Davis would see more complementary work in the backfield behind Cook.

Saturday, January 3, 10:02 AM

Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle (toe) does not have an injury designation heading into the team's week 18 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Dowdle appears to be in a 60-40 timeshare with fellow running back Chuba Hubbard, with the latter seeing the vast majority of third downs over the past three games. The Panthers hosted the Buccaneers in Week 16, and Dowdle was held to just 29 yards from nine rushing attempts, but did earn 14 receiving yards from his four receptions off six targets. Even though Dowdle has been absent on nearly every third down over the last two games, he still managed to earn more targets and run six more routes each game than Hubbard. Dowdle profiles as a low-end RB2 against a middle-of-the-road Buccaneers run defense in the 2025 regular season finale.