As the NFL is ready to open the 2025 league year with the start of free agency, fans inside Broncos Country are eager to see what the team will do at several positions. Among the most intriguing is the running back spot.
The Denver Broncos are widely expected to move on from Javonte Williams as their starting running back. The team has some good, young options in Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime, but both of them are complementary running backs. The team needs a player who can shoulder more of the load and be the type of runner Sean Payton likes in his offense.
Ian Valentino of The 33rd Team took a shot at predicting where each of the top running backs on this year’s market will land. He predicted that the Minnesota Vikings will be the team to sign Williams.
If that were to happen, there is a chance that the Broncos and Vikings could essentially complete a trade as Aaron Jones has been tabbed by many to land in Denver. But Valentino feels that Rico Dowdle will be the running back Denver brings in.
“Denver is in the middle of the NFL with $40 million in cap space, so Rico Dowdle is a good mid-tier signing who won’t break the bank. In return, they get a solid player coming off a breakthrough season. Dowdle, who ranked 15th by averaging 3.28 yards after contact per carry, is a zone-based runner with average explosiveness beyond his fight through that first hit.
A backfield with Dowdle, Estime, and Jaleel McLaughlin won’t set the world on fire, but Sean Payton has balance and depth. A higher-upside rookie would be nice, but Dowdle’s presence allows Denver to put that need on the backburner a little bit”, wrote Valentino.
Dowdle joined the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina in 2020. He was hardly used until the 2023 season when he began to see some action in the team’s running back rotation. In 2024, he vaulted into the No. 1 role in the backfield when the Cowboys surprisingly chose not to address the position in the offseason.
Dowdle responded well, rushing for 1,079 yards and catching 39 passes. He scored five total touchdowns.
He wouldn’t be a game-changing player in Denver, but he wouldn’t be a costly signing and at only 26 years old, could offer a handful of years of solid play in the Mile High City. If the Broncos want to sign a running back in free agency without breaking the bank in order to use that money on other positions, then Dowdle is probably the right player to target.
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