Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle is in the best form of his career, and head coach Mike McCarthy understands why it’s important to give Dowdle ample carries.

The game plan of late for the 2024 version of the Dallas Cowboys has been rather simple – let Rico Dowdle be the driving force of the offense.

In the last three weeks, Dowdle has exploded behind an offensive line that is blocking their tails off, and Rico has rattled off games of 112, 131, and 149 yards while having at least 18 carries in each of those games.

Already with 880 rushing yards on the year, and that is with four games of less than 10 carries, Dowdle is now beginning to show that he can be “that” guy for the Cowboys run game.

Such has been Dowdle’s form, it has now dawned on head coach Mike McCarthy that good things happen when Rico touches the football.

“The thing that’s always stood out to me of Rico is his run style, especially when he goes vertical,” McCarthy said. “He breaks tackles, his contact balance is exceptional, and he’s got so much power in his hips. He’s done a much better job of protecting the football, breaks a lot of tackles week in and week out.

“But just his consistency and the thing I really want to see Rico do is take the next step and it’s to be a third-down back. Just being an every-down back and he’s doing a little more of that and we’ll see how that looks moving forward because it’s important for him to touch the football.”

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

With Dowdle now on track to reach the famous 1,000-yard mark, it would be quite the feather in his cap, but it is a little annoying that it took Dallas this long to figure out that Rico was the best back on the roster.

But here we are, and now the Cowboys have three games left in the season to evaluate Dowdle as a potential cog in the run game in 2025.

Based on this season’s performance, Dowdle deserves a shot at being involved in the offense, but it remains to be seen in what capacity.