Boom Or Bust? Evaluating Dak Prescott & Top 5 Fantasy Football Cowboys
NFL football is back. The preseason is fully underway and with that, your fantasy drafts. The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of valuable players in fantasy football this season and we'll be evaluating their top five players' PPR (Point Per Reception) values based on their ADP (Average Draft Position).
Here are our evaluations:
CeeDee Lamb, receiver
Current ADP (ESPN PPR): 14
With Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper now gone, 104 targets have been cleared from the Dallas offense ... and that means a lot of extra work for Lamb.
Lamb was receiver No. 19 in PPR leagues last season, but stands to make a major leap from that ranking due to the expected spike in workload.
Lamb has already been a favorite target of quarterback Dak Prescott during training camp, as it's looking like Prescott will lean on the third-year receiver this season.
Lamb is expected to explode onto the scene for Dallas this season and cement his role as a WR1, which ex-Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper says Lamb is more than ready for.
"He's been ready," Cooper told 96.7FM The Ticket. "He's going to make the plays when his jersey number is called, and I can't wait to see it happen."
With an ADP of 14, Lamb already is projected to be among the top receivers in fantasy this season. Lamb may not necessarily exceed his ADP, but is a safe bet to meet it, which is all one asks for in fantasy.
Boom or bust?: Boom
Ezekiel Elliott, running back
Current ADP (ESPN PPR): 38
Last season, Elliott posted over 1,000 rushing yards on 4.2 yards per carry with 10 rushing touchdowns. Nonetheless, 2021 was considered a down year.
Ranking as the seventh leading rusher on a partially torn PCL and then being criticized for it is seems harsh. For many running backs, that would be a career year.
Additionally, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated the team's desire to keep Elliott as the "focal point" of the offense earlier this offseason, which bodes extremely well for his fantasy output.
"Seriously, Zeke's gotta be our feature, and he is our feature," Jones said, via NFL.com. "We can feature him in a lot of different ways. ... It's critical that we make Zeke -- because he's capable of being that -- really the focus of what we're doing.''
Elliott also seems healthy and ready to return to form. Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy has stated his confidence this offseason in a bounce back season for Elliott.
“I think the biggest thing with Zeke is he’s completely healthy now and he’s had a tremendous offseason,” McCarthy said. "He’s in top shape. At the end of the day, he’s an extremely instinctive, tough, smart football player, great teammate. So, I think he’s definitely set himself up for that."
Being fully healthy and "[the Cowboys'] feature?" It's a safe bet for Elliott to far surpass his RB7 ranking in fantasy from last year. Elliott is pure value in fantasy this year.
Boom or bust?: Boom
Dalton Shultz, tight end
Current ADP (ESPN PPR): 54
Another possible beneficiary of Cooper's 104 vacated targets is Shultz.
Shultz scored a career-high 208.8 fantasy points in PPR last season, which was good enough for TE3 in fantasy. Now, Shultz is ranked as TE6 in PPR this year by ESPN.
Part of that has to do with the fact that San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle will be playing a full season again. It also is due to Kyle Pitts being expected to have an expanded role with Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley being suspended. Nonetheless, having Shultz projected to slide back three spots in the tight end rankings with a largely expanded role just doesn't make sense logically.
Plus, Shultz has been showing out in camp.
Shultz will provide immense value and upside in later rounds of fantasy drafts this year. Translation: forego the superstars (Mark Andrew, Travis Kelce, etc..) in early rounds for Shultz later on.
Boom or bust?: Boom
Dak Prescott, quarterback
Current ADP (ESPN PPR): 69
ESPN has Prescott ranked as QB9 in fantasy this year based off his current ADP. With depth questions at receiver and a worrying offensive line unit, Prescott offers a huge amount of risk this season.
Dallas has seen some promise out of its young receivers as well as rookie left guard Tyler Smith, but Prescott is a fade in all fantasy leagues this season. Too many unknowns remain around him on the Cowboys offense.
Boom or bust?: Bust
Tony Pollard, running back
Current ADP (ESPN PPR): 92
Pollard is probably the most difficult fantasy pick to evaluate for Dallas this year. On one hand, Jones' assertion that Elliott needs to remain the focal point doesn't bode well for Pollard expanding his rushing role. However, Pollard stands to expand his roles in other ways.
Pollard has been extremely efficient for Dallas not just in the run game, but also as a receiver. Pollard had 39 catches last season for Dallas, with a respectable 8.6 yards per reception.
"At Memphis that really was his primary position, at slot receiver. And then he would kind of go into the backfield, that was his secondary role.... he's not going to just run the running back route tree. ... he can stretch people vertically," Moore said.
Mark in Pollard as another player looking to take a piece of the pie that Cooper left behind. While Pollard's upside is capped by Jones' comments, an expanded role in the receiving game would bode well for his value in PPR formats.
Simply due to his ADP of 92, there isn't much risk taking a flier on his receiving upside in 10-team or less leagues.
Boom or bust?: Semi-boom
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