Rico Dowdle or Bucky Irving: who should I start in Week 6?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Rico Dowdle: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 106th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Bucky Irving: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 109th overall on the rest of his evidence.

What the player markets price

The market has Rico Dowdle at 2.2 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market has Bucky Irving at 2.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Rico Dowdle's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 2, Rico Dowdle has been on the field for 42 percent of PIT snaps, taken 37 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 18 third down targets and seen 0 of its 9 two minute targets.

His 7 targets have averaged 0.9 air yards.

In Week 1 against ATL he carried 8 times for 15 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for 6 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against NE he carried 7 times for 22 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

Through Week 5, Bucky Irving has been on the field for 61 percent of TB snaps, taken 58 percent of the carries, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 38 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 40 third down targets, had 2 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 29 two minute targets.

His 18 targets have come 1.8 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 3 against MIN he carried 15 times for 46 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against GB he carried 16 times for 61 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against DAL he carried 21 times for 165 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 10 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Rico Dowdle played 17 games and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He carried 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 more yards.

That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 56 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Bucky Irving played 10 games and scored 138.5 PPR points, 13.9 a game, finishing RB34.

He carried 173 times for 588 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 30 of 35 targets for 277 more yards.

That came to 17.3 carries a game at 3.4 yards a carry and 3.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Rico Dowdle was available for 7 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Bucky Irving scored 13.9 PPR points a game and Rico Dowdle 12.7, 1.1 a game between them.

Rico Dowdle finished RB18 that year and Bucky Irving RB34.

Rico Dowdle had 63 more carries than Bucky Irving, 236 to 173.

Rico Dowdle had 9 more catches than Bucky Irving, 39 to 30.

This season Bucky Irving holds the bigger snap share, 61 percent against 42 percent.

This season Bucky Irving holds the bigger share of the carries, 58 percent against 37 percent.

Byes and availability

Rico Dowdle is off in Week 9 and Bucky Irving in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.

Rico Dowdle is listed as out on the injury report.