Cowboys Announce Big RB Change Ahead of Week 11

After losing four straight games to fall to 3-6 for the season, the Dallas Cowboys are desperately trying to turn their season around. Even though they are likely out of the playoff picture, the Cowboys need to be a more competitive team down the stretch. In order to do that, head coach Mike McCarthy is considering making some changes to the rotation.

On Thursday, McCarthy announced one big change. Per Cowboys insider Clarence Hill Jr, the Cowboys are making Rico Dowdle their lead running back instead of having a committee in the backfield.

Cowboys News: Mike McCarthy Announces Rico Dowdle as RB1

While Dowdle has been the best RB on the roster this season, this is not the big move Cowboys fans have been waiting for. As one of the worst rushing teams all season, the Cowboys presumably should have made a move before the trade deadline to address their need.

However, once they failed to acquire another RB, this is as good of a move as they could have reasonably made.

Dowdle has been sharing RB duties with Ezekiel Elliott since the start of the season. Dalvin Cook became a part of the rotation in recent weeks. While Dowdle is averaging a little over ten carries per game, Elliott gets almost seven rushing attempts per game. In these touches, Dowdle has been significantly more effective, averaging 4.5 yards per carry, compared to Zeke's 3.2.

Since the start of the season, Dowdle has been playing around half of the team's offensive snaps. That number should go up in the upcoming weeks while Elliott should see his role further diminished. Whether that makes any difference for the Cowboys in the final stretch of the season remains to be seen.

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