The Dallas Cowboys revamped their running back room in the offseason when they replaced Tony Pollard with Ezekiel Elliott. They followed that up with the recent surprise addition of Dalvin Cook. They now have a quartet of rushers in the backfield with Zeke, Cook, Rico Dowdle, and Deuce Vaughn.

Cook starts the season on the practice squad and should be considered more of a low-risk, high-reward flyer at this point. Elliott is similarly past his prime and how much he has left in the tank is a big question. Amidst all this uncertainty, one Cowboy running back is reportedly due for a breakout season. According to The Athletic’s Jon Machota, it is Dowdle, who is entering his fourth year with the team, who might end up leading the Cowboys’ RB room.

“In a room that includes Elliott and Dalvin Cook, Dowdle should be the favorite to lead the Cowboys in rushing attempts and rushing yards this season.”

– Jon Machota, The Athletic

Machota makes the bold prediction that Dowdle could lead Dallas in rushing attempts and rushing yards. He bases this off his training camp performance where he reportedly looked like Dallas’ most explosive and “complete back”.

This will be a massive increase in workload for the 26-year-old. Last season, Dowdle had 89 rushing attempts for 361 yards and two touchdowns. He added 144 yards and two touchdowns in the passing game.

If this projection is correct, it likely means that Zeke has continued his decline and had another underwhelming season. In 2023, the former Pro Bowler had 184 rushing attempts and averaged a career-low 3.5 yards per carry for the Patriots. He was brought into Dallas to be the RB1 and losing that job to Dowdle would likely signal the end of the road for the fan favorite.