Start Rico Dowdle or Jonathon Brooks? Week 1
Locks at kickoff, graded after.
Start Rico Dowdle over Jonathon Brooks
Wrong: 4.1 to 7.2
- ATL D vs RB
- 14.4
- 9th fewest to RBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 58%
- Week 1
- Target share
- 14%
- Week 1
- Scored
- 4.1
- PPR pts
- Books imply
- 2.9
- fantasy pts
- CHI D vs RB
- 33.7
- 8th most to RBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 19%
- Week 1
- Target share
- 6%
- Week 1
- Scored
- 7.2
- PPR pts
Our Week 1 call
Start Rico Dowdle over Jonathon Brooks in Week 1.
Jonathon Brooks is priced by the books at 2.9 projected points and Rico Dowdle is not priced at all, so we are leaning on where drafters take them. Drafters take Rico Dowdle at ADP 79 and Jonathon Brooks at 94.
What the books imply
No sportsbook posted a player market for Rico Dowdle in Week 1.
Player prop markets imply 2.9 fantasy points for Jonathon Brooks, with 40 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.
Week 1 matchups
Rico Dowdle and PIT host ATL.
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.
Jonathon Brooks and CAR host CHI on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
CHI allowed 33.7 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 8th most in the league.
Running backs ran for 91 yards and a touchdown against CHI and caught passes for 86 more yards.
By points allowed to the position, Jonathon Brooks has the softer matchup.
Injury status
Rico Dowdle was not on the injury report when the call was made.
Jonathon Brooks 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.
How Week 1 went
Rico Dowdle scored 4.1 PPR points and Jonathon Brooks scored 7.2.
The call was wrong: Jonathon Brooks outscored Rico Dowdle by 3.1.
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.
Jonathon Brooks finished 4.4 points above the 2.9 the props implied.
Jonathon Brooks, Week 1 against CHI: 13 of 68 snaps, 4 carries for 14 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 48 yards, 7.2 PPR points.
Jonathon Brooks finished as the week's RB38 in PPR scoring.
Their other Week 1 calls
On the draft board
Ranked ahead
RB22 · PIT · bye 9
2025 vs rush yds line 6-11
- Overall rank
- 49
- Draft pick
- no consensus
- Tier
- 4
Ranked behind
RB40 · CAR · bye 5
- Overall rank
- 161
- Draft pick
- no consensus
- Tier
- 10
The board cards are draft figures, not the week's call. Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 1, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.
The gap between them
- Spots apart on the board112
- Pick differencenot comparable without a consensus on both
- Tierstier 4 and tier 10
- Board size244 draftable players
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