Cowboys Fantasy Football Showdown: Should You Add Brandin Cooks, Rico Dowdle, Michael Gallup Before Week 11?

The Dallas Cowboys absolutely obliterated the New York Giants in week 10. Dallas accumulated 640 yards of offense, which meant several offensive players had big fantasy showings.

Let’s take a look at the days for Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup and Rico Dowdle and determine if you should be targeting any of them on the waiver wire before week 11 kicks off.

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Week 10 Showings

Cooks was the Cowboys’ best offensive skill player, going for 173 receiving yards. Cooks was targeted 10 times, making nine catches, including one touchdown.

Six of Cooks’ catches, including the score, came in the second quarter. He added two more grabs on a drive in the third quarter.

Gallup wasn’t nearly as involved, but he still made a couple big plays. He caught both of his targets for 70 yards and a touchdown.

His first catch was a 41-yard touchdown in the third quarter. His final catch was a 29-yarder in the fourth quarter.

Dowdle had by far his best game of the season, rushing for 79 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

Dowdle broke off his longest run (21 yards) in the first quarter. He had a 17-yard run in the second quarter. Dowdle had a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter before scoring on the ground for the first time in his three-year career.

Cooks played 41 offensive snaps, which was just 53% of the team’s total. Gallup was at 37 snaps, while Dowdle played 22 snaps.

Season Numbers

For Cooks, week 10 was easily his best performance of the season. He’s now up to 26 catches on 39 targets, going for 338 yards and three scores.

Cooks hadn’t topped four catches or 50 yards in a game this season until Sunday. His 10 targets were three more than his season high, and every other contest has seen Cooks under five targets.

Cooks’ role in the offense does seem to be expanding, as his three best games have come over the past four contests. All three of his touchdowns have come across those games.

This was arguably Gallup’s best game of the season, although it ended with just two catches. He’s now topped 50 receiving yards three times on the season, and his touchdown grab was his first of the year.

Gallup’s previous best two games came in weeks 3 and 4, so maybe his week 10 showing can lead to more productive showings going forward. He hasn’t topped three catches since week 4.

Dowdle’s previous season high in carries was seven, although maybe the lopsided score in week 10 gave him some extra opportunities. He definitely made a case that he should be getting more carries, as his previous high in rushing yards was 26. Dowdle hasn’t topped 20 rushing yards since week 3.

Dowdle, who also returns some kicks for the Cowboys, played his second-most snaps of the season. His most was 23 snaps in the team’s blowout win over the Los Angeles Rams a couple weeks ago.

Cowboys Fantasy Outlook

It’s hard to look too deeply at the production in this contest, as it came in a lopsided game against a terrible opponent. Considering the state of the Cowboys’ offense though, you can make some guesses as to how things might play out in the future.

The Cowboys’ offense is spearheaded by running back Tony Pollard and wideout CeeDee Lamb. Those two have over 1,700 scrimmage yards. Surprisingly, they’ve only scored seven combined touchdowns though. 

No other player has over 375 scrimmage yards or four touchdowns, which means there’s room for another couple guys to step into more prominent and consistent roles.

That just hasn’t happened this season, but that shouldn’t stop you completely from wanting to add one of Cooks, Gallup or Dowdle on the waiver wire.

I like to focus on players that are on the field the most. Of the trio in this discussion, Gallup (386) has played the most snaps this season, while Cooks (369) just a bit behind him. Dowdle is only at 123 overall snaps.

Oddly enough, Dowdle feels like the best fantasy option at first glance. Maybe that’s because Pollard has only averaged 3.9 yards a carry and has scored two total touchdowns for the season.

Giving Dowdle some extra carries every week could be a way to keep Pollard fresh as the regular season winds down. Pollard’s best fantasy days were when he served as a complementary back to Ezekiel Elliott. I’m not saying the Cowboys should make Dowdle the feature back, but maybe splitting their carries and snaps a bit more will allow Pollard to be a bit more successful overall, while also making Dowdle a possible fantasy asset.

Maybe Dowdle looks like the best fantasy option because Lamb is the team’s clear No. 1 option in the receiving game, leaving Cooks and Gallup to fight for the leftover targets and catches. Both Cooks and Gallup have had solid fantasy showings this season, but they’ve been too inconsistent to be starting options you can be super confident in. 

Who Should You Target on Waiver Wire?

I think all three of Cooks, Gallup and Dowdle are going to be sought after on the waiver wire this week. Cooks is owned in 49% of leagues and should see the biggest jump in his percentage. Gallup is currently at 31% and should get a decent boost as well. Dowdle also has the chance for the biggest jump in own percentage, but that’s mostly because he’s owned in just 8% of leagues.

If you aren’t in need of a running back or wide receiver and are simply looking for the best fantasy option for the rest of the season, all three of these guys are decent options. 

As much as I’d like to make Dowdle the top priority, I can’t do that after just one strong week. I think I’d give the top priority nod to Cooks. He’s been more involved of late and I like his chances of outperforming Gallup, especially if he continues to play a few more snaps.

At this point, I’d go with Gallup over Dowdle as well. It’s easier to put trust in a No. 3 receiver than it is a No. 2 running back that hasn’t been very productive this season. Maybe Gallup’s touchdown in week 10 can help him turn the corner and be a more involved offensive player.

Running back is a premium position in fantasy, so I’d also understand if you wanted to make Dowdle your top priority of this trio. As I mentioned before, Pollard hasn’t really been that efficient with his touches this season, so maybe getting Dowdle more involved is a way to boost Pollard’s efficiency moving forward. I’d personally like to see another week where Dowdle gets double-digits touches, but if you wait another week, he might already be rostered, or at the very least, be a much more sought after waiver wire guy that everyone is chasing. Address the Dowdle situation on a per team/league basis.

All three of these players should appear in other waiver wire stories we write up this week, so be sure to check back for those before your league’s waiver wire transactions go through.