Rico Dowdle Week 11 Outlook - Panthers at Falcons

By Ellis Johnson (FantasyPros), Tue, Nov 11th 2025, 2:50pm EST

Every year, there is a player or two that seemingly come out of the blue and carry teams to championship runs. In the past, we've seen Jerrick McKinnon, Damien Williams, Kenyan Drake, and ARSB have incredible ends to their seasons. Although a little early, it's looking like Rico Dowdle may be this year's X factor player. Last week, Rico Dowdle played 80% of snaps and led the team in third-down usage for the first time since Week 6. It's safe to say, Dowdle is the primary Panthers' back for the foreseeable future. With the Panthers only one game behind the Buccaneers, and averaging the third most rushing attempts per game, this is a perfect situation for Dowdle. This week, he takes on the Falcons, who just allowed Jonathan Taylor to 286 total yards and three scores. Not saying Dowdle is JT, but he has been known to have two 200-yard games this season. Unless the Falcons can fix their defense this week, Dowdle could take advantage of a team flying back from Germany this week.