CHARLOTTE — Rico Dowdle might be a native Carolinian, but he still needs GPS to get around town.

"Shoot from here, to the store, to my house," exclaimed Dowdle, breaking down the depth of his reliance on navigational assistance, even in areas with which he is familiar.

"(But) I've been down here, you know, it's only 45-50 minutes from my hometown, so I've been to Charlotte a few times."

The Carolina Panthers' newest running back grew up in Gaffney, S.C. through middle school when he and his family relocated to Asheville, N.C. He is bred by the Carolinas, so when presented with a chance to return home, the former Cowboys free agent couldn't turn it down.

"I think it's got its pros and cons," laughed Dowdle of being back within driving distance of his entire family, "I'm about to find out real soon like what it's about."

And while Dowdle might need a GPS to make the reciprocal trip to his parent's house in Asheville—which he said was safe after the recent hurricane destruction—or even to the closest Harris Teeter, there is one direction he instinctually knows to travel; straight behind a massive offensive line.

"Obviously (Panthers) got a great O-line, those guys up front and how they've built their O-line up," Dowdle said. "It depends on the situation, I'd say, but that's something you definitely look at. If you can get behind a team, the opportunity presents stuff."

The offensive line unit added pieces in free agency last offseason, found a starting lineup, kept quarterback Bryce Young upright, paved the way for Chuba Hubbard to have his first 1,000-plus yard season, and then returned all starters and the first nine on the depth chart.

"That's something you look at, at the offensive line, evaluate it like, 'OK, yeah, those guys are doing that, you know, they're pretty good,'" Dowdle said. "So when I knew I was coming here, I started doing my research and stuff on the O-line, seeing all the positive on it and how they've built it up these past couple years. So definitely was intriguing to see.

"With those guys up front, I've watched a little bit of film already, and those guys, they pretty much run mid-zone, similar to what—we ran outside-zone in Dallas."

The opportunity to run behind that line, as well as sharing a team with Hubbard and putting two 1,000-yard backs in the same backfield, was just as much of a pull, if not more so, than returning home.

"When you got two guys that can go in, and there's no drop off from one to two, I think it helps out," Dowdle said, imagining what he and Hubbard could do together this next season. "Helps the coaches call plays and just helps keep the team going, and I think all the energy of it will be brought through the running backs."

Dowdle comes to the Panthers on a one-year deal, supplementing Hubbard and the run game while Jonathon Brooks recovers from an ACL tear that could keep him sidelined all season at most, and the majority of it at least. So, while the running back isn't yet sure what life will look like a year from now, for at least one season, he knew he wanted to be here, in this state, with this team, this offensive line, and this close access to home.

"The opportunity to come back home, be close to family, friends, and stuff like that was so intriguing, and things like that played into the fact that," Dowdle admitted, adding, "but mainly opportunity and what presented itself."

And that opportunity, Dowdle and the Panthers hope leads in one direction: up.