Rico Dowdle is lighting the NFL on fire, and he might get benched

The Panthers have quickly turned their season around. Sitting at 3-3, and with upcoming games against the Jets and Saints in upcoming weeks this team has gone from dead in the water, to attempting to make a play for a Wild Card spot in the playoffs. A lot of things have improved for Carolina, but the biggest factor has been running back Rico Dowdle. Now there’s a chance he could be benched.

Dowdle, a free agent signing this offseason, was brought in to simply be a change of pace back, and perhaps contributing in some gadget plays. Chuba Hubbard was cemented as the starter, the team drafted Trevor Etienne in 2025, and Jonathan Brooks in 2024 — though Brooke might never see meaningful field time due to a series of ACL injuries. The point is: Dowdle was there to be a veteran caretaker until the young backs were ready. Instead he’s suddenly exploded to become the most dynamic running back in the NFL.

In two starts Dowdle has now entered the top 5 in rushing yards this season. He’s amassed 389 rushing yards, at a preposterous 7.8 yards-per-carry. Some of the shine comes off that number when you consider he worked against hopeless run defenses in Miami and Dallas — but it’s impressive nonetheless, especially when you factor in his 84 receiving yards.

This has put the Panthers in the age-old football bind: If a backup breaks out due to injury do you stay with the hot hand, or revert to your original plan? Not even the coaching staff really knows. Here’s the latest from Jeremy Fowler at ESPN:

While Dowdle has earned a prominent role, I’m told the Panthers are taking the approach that both players will get their touches regardless of who gets the first snap. Both fit the Panthers’ tough-minded, grind-it-out mold.

There are a lot of factors at play which make this a much tougher decision that arbitrarily handing the starting job to Rico Dowdle. While Hubbard didn’t make a huge impact to start the season, he was also put into a position where the Panthers offensive line was in flux. Injuries wrecked the line to start the season, with starting left guard Robert Hunt being lost for the season, then starting center Austin Corbett — THEN backup left guard Chandler Zavala was injured, forcing musical chairs all over the line.

Naturally this hurt Bryce Young, but it also made it extremely difficult for Hubbard to get consistent blocking. The lack of a standout running was understandable, and it’s important to note that during this same time period Dowdle wasn’t doing anything behind the struggling line either, averaging 2.84 yards-per-carry in these games.

It would be one thing if Chuba Hubbard was a throwaway back or short-term answer as well, but the Panthers signed him to a four-year, $33.2M extension this past offseason following a 2024 season in which Hubbard ran for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns. He is the Panthers future at running back, and that is a mammoth factor in this decision as well. Casting Hubbard aside to make Dowdle the feature back fails to really assess what Hubbard could be with the offensive line fixed, and while it’s highly unlikely he’s be as good as Dowdle has, he’s also the future of your franchise at the position.

Even taking all this into account it’s still a very, very rough situation to be in for the Panthers coaching staff. This is the first time in six years the fanbase has had any level of confidence in the team, and the first time since Dave Canales was hired that people are buying in. There’s very much an element of “don’t upset the apple cart,” and if the Panthers lessen Dowdle’s load to give more time to Hubbard, and the Panthers begin to struggle in the running game as a result, well, the coaching staff looks incompetent.

The correct move right now is probably what the Panthers are doing by being non-committal. It gives them the freedom to see if the two backs can share the load, and if one really stands out then hopefully there’s no harm, no foul if someone gets benched. Ultimately it comes back to the football code that says you can’t bench someone due to injury. The contract situation and the optics just make that more complicated.