Cowboys 'Complete RB' Rico Dowdle: 'More Snaps' Even With Dalvin Cook Signed?
The Dallas Cowboys running back room has been the subject of much conjecture this offseason, from the outside at least, with many questioning how much head coach Mike McCarthy can get out of the group.
Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle, and Deuce Vaughn make up the 53-man part of the room, with Dalvin Cook starting on the practice squad. But we might have gotten an indication from McCarthy about what he thinks about Dowdle's role in the offense.
Rico hasn't had the chance to have big carries in NFL games, but that's set to change in 2024, and McCarthy made quite an eyebrow-raising statement about Dowdle.
“He's going to have opportunities,” McCarthy said of Dowdle this season. “We tend to forget Rico's an excellent special-teams player too, so he'll have a lesser role in special teams just because of workload focus. But yes he's a complete running back, plays all three downs, I think his pass protection from his rookie year to now, it's become one of his best assets.”
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Rico was on the outer of the Cowboys offense last season behind Tony Pollard, totaling just 361 yards and two touchdowns from 89 carries (all career highs), but he is now set to have a much bigger workload in 2024.
With Ezekiel Elliott showing a lot of wear and tear and Deuce not really having any skins on the wall in NFL action, Rico is tasked with giving Zeke a breather and helping ease the pressure on Vaughn to make big splash plays.
Given that in McCarthy's offense, Dak Prescott airs out the football rather often, Rico's skills as a pass protector will be called upon, and that is perhaps where some of his value lies. Elliott and Cook are also proficient in pass protection, so Dak "should" get support from his running backs in that area.
We do wonder, though: If Zeke is the starter and if Dalvin's going to play ... how does that mathematically add up to "more'' for Rico?
Entering his fourth year, Rico, a free agent in 2025, has a chance to lay down a marker as he gets his first real chance to establish himself as part of an NFL offense.
McCarthy called him a "complete back," and we hope that Dowdle shows to be exactly that as the one thing missing from the NFL's best offense in 2023 was a consistent run game.
Maybe, with the help of Rico, it will return in 2024.
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