This was an easy choice. 

The Carolina Panthers improved to 2-3 on the season after beating the Miami Dolphins at home in Week 5. 

Panthers RB Rico Dowdle had the best game of his career. He had 206 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown, helping Carolina beat Miami by a final score of 27-24. 

Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report has named Dowdle the Panthers' biggest breakout player after five weeks and it's easy to see why after watching his Week 5 performance. 

"Yes, Dowdle went over 1,000 yards last year in Dallas," Gagnon wrote. "But he's upped his yards-per-attempt average from 4.6 to 5.7 this year and has already matched his 2024 rushing touchdown total of two. He's yet to fumble, and he is coming off one of the best offensive performances of the year (234 scrimmage yards in a victory over Miami)."

Dowdle was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 5. The South Carolina product has 289 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on the season. 

"It's the attitude that he ran with," Panthers head coach Dave Canales said of Dowdle's performance. "The violence that he ran with, finishing through arm tackles, something that we've been challenging our guys on, when we get you to the second level, have a plan for how you finish, and I saw a great finish today out of Rico."

The Panthers face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. It will be a revenge game for Dowdle, who spent four seasons in Dallas. 

"They gotta buckle up. I think they know for sure. I been there five years, they didn't keep me there for five years for no reason," Dowdle said, via The Athletic's Joe Person. "(I) look forward to playing those guys next week and we'll get to it ... when we get there."  

In 57 NFL games with the Cowboys and Panthers, Dowdle has 1,753 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.