CHARLOTTE (CAROLINA SPORTS LIVE) — Rico Dowdle has been nothing short of amazing in his first year with the black & blue.
He’s coming off his third game of more than 100 yards and has officially taken over the Panthers’ backfield. In weeks five and six, he was the lead back while Chuba Hubbard was out with an injury. Dowdle exploded in those matchups with more than 200 scrimmage yards in each game.
In the next two games, he split carries with Hubbard. The running game wasn’t as effective, and led head coach Dave Canales to announce Dowdle would get the bulk of the work going into the Panthers’ Week 9 game against the Packers.
And, boy, did he show up. In the 16-13 victory in Green Bay, Dowdle had 130 yards on 25 carries and scored both touchdowns.
His 25 carries and 130 yards were the most for a Panther against the Packers in quite some time. The previous bests were 24 carries by Brad Hoover in 2000 and 119 rushing yards by Fred Lane in 1997.
Through nine weeks, Dowdle is third in the NFL in rushing yards (735), yards per carry (5.6), runs of at least 20 yards (5), and yards per game (81.7), which is especially eye-opening because in six of the nine games, he’s had 10 or less attempts and less than 80 yards in each game.
“I love when he runs the ball, he runs physically,” head coach Dave Canales said of Dowdle on Monday. “When he finishes his runs, he makes the [defensive backs] have to show up and make decisions about whether they want to put a shoulder on him or not. It gets the group going, and the guys get really animated when he finishes runs in a violent manner and want to get behind and push. He’s done a great job of that, just consistently with the opportunities he’s had.”
The Panthers’ running game has a whole has been good, which is also a testament to Chuba Hubbard and the offensive line. Carolina has 1,258 rushing yards this season, which is the third most in the NFL (and only one yard behind the Commanders for second).
The rushing attack has certainly big a huge part of Carolina’s success so far in the 2025 campaign.
As of this writing, the Panthers, 5-4, are 1.5 games back of the Buccaneers in the NFC South, and a half-game behind the Lions for the final wild card spot. Carolina hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2017-18 season, and hasn’t won the division since their Super Bowl run in 2015-16.
The Buccaneers are playing well, but the Panthers are in a good spot to make the postseason if they continue playing at a high level. They’ve only played one division game so far, meaning five of their last eight games are against NFC South foes, including two against the division-leading Bucs.
