Start Rico Dowdle or J.K. Dobbins? Week 1

Our Week 1 call

Start Rico Dowdle over J.K. Dobbins in Week 1.

Rico Dowdle is priced by the books at 7.2 projected points. J.K. Dobbins has no player market posted for this week, so his side of this call rests on consensus ADP and the news wire only. Drafters take Rico Dowdle at ADP 79 and J.K. Dobbins at 82. Market coverage on Rico Dowdle is 70 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 7.2 fantasy points for Rico Dowdle, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

No sportsbook posted a player market for J.K. Dobbins in Week 1.

Week 1 matchups

Rico Dowdle and PIT host ATL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

ATL allowed 14.4 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 9th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 61 yards and no touchdowns against ATL and caught passes for 33 more yards.

J.K. Dobbins and DEN visit KC.

KC allowed 11.7 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 7th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 54 yards and no touchdowns against KC and caught passes for 23 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Rico Dowdle has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Rico Dowdle was not on the injury report when the call was made.

J.K. Dobbins was not on the injury report when the call was made.

Their 2025 seasons

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

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

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

Rico Dowdle, Week 18 of 2025 against TB: 27 of 51 snaps, 7 carries for 10 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 20 yards, 3.0 PPR points.

Rico Dowdle, Week 17 of 2025 against SEA: 34 of 53 snaps, 12 carries for 59 yards, 5 targets and 3 catches for 4 yards, 9.3 PPR points.

Rico Dowdle, Week 16 of 2025 against TB: 31 of 54 snaps, 9 carries for 29 yards, 6 targets and 4 catches for 14 yards, 8.3 PPR points.

In 2025, J.K. Dobbins played 10 games for DEN and scored 115.9 PPR points, 11.6 a game, finishing RB43.

He ran 153 times for 772 yards and 4 touchdowns, and caught 11 of 14 targets for 37 yards.

He was on the field for 51 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

How Week 1 went

Rico Dowdle scored 4.1 PPR points and J.K. Dobbins scored 3.6.

The call was right: Rico Dowdle outscored J.K. Dobbins by 0.5.

Rico Dowdle finished 3.1 points below the 7.2 the props implied.

Rico Dowdle, Week 1 against ATL: 39 of 67 snaps, 8 carries for 15 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards, 4.1 PPR points.

Rico Dowdle finished as the week's RB48 in PPR scoring.

J.K. Dobbins, Week 1 against KC: 22 of 51 snaps, 8 carries for 36 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 3.6 PPR points.

J.K. Dobbins finished as the week's RB53 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 1 calls

• Start Rico Dowdle over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start Rico Dowdle over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start Chuba Hubbard over Rico Dowdle.
• Start J.K. Dobbins over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start J.K. Dobbins over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start Chuba Hubbard over J.K. Dobbins.