Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle's journey from third-stringer to bona fide RB1 is now complete: Dowdle is the first undrafted player in Cowboys history to register 1,000 yards rushing in a season.
He began his career buried deep on the depth chart behind both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, which is why he entered 2024 with 96 career rushing yards through his first four seasons. (He also battled a broken hip (2021) and a season-ending ankle injury (2022).) Dowdle needed 97 rushing yards in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles to cross the 1,000-yard mark, and he did it after breaking free for 17 yards on his 22nd carry of the game with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter of an Eagles domination of Dallas. He finished with 104 yards rushing on 23 carries.
Entering the week, Dowdle admitted getting to 1,000 yards rushing was something that he thinks about "all the time."
"Oh yeah, for sure. I definitely think about it all the time," Dowdle said Thursday when asked about hitting 1,000 rushing yards. "Got two weeks to do it, so definitely want to hit that mark for sure. ... It would mean a lot. ... It would definitely mean a lot to be a 1,000-yard rusher in the NFL, especially with my first season getting to kind of carry the load. So definitely a landmark I think I can reach, and I think I can do it."
Now that he's done it in his first year as a featured running back, Dowdle can cash in as an unrestricted in free agent in 2025, whether that's with the Cowboys or another NFL team.
