Cowboys Fantasy Football Preview: Can Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb Continue to be Huge Fantasy Assets?
Breaking down the Dallas Cowboys best fantasy football players for the upcoming season.
Let’s tackle another NFL team fantasy football preview.
Check back soon for more team previews. Of course, things will change between now and the start of the season, and FantasySP will cover any major changes when those happen.
Here’s all the team previews we’ve already covered:
AFC: Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos
NFC: San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Commanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Let’s talk about the Dallas Cowboys now.
Get ready for draft season! Practice Mock Drafts, check out ADPs and get advice for trades with our trade analyzer.
Dak Prescott Fantasy Outlook
Prescott is back as the Dallas starting quarterback for the 2024 season. He’s coming off probably his best season yet, which is all fantasy football owners are worried about.
In 17 games last season, Prescott completed 410 of his 590 passes for 4,516 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. It was the second-most yards and touchdowns he’s had in a season, while also throwing the third-least amount of picks in a (near full) year.
Prescott added a bit as a runner. He went for 242 yards and two touchdowns on 55 attempts.
The Cowboys’ offense is very similar to a season ago. Prescott and the passing game should power the offense again, so he should be in store for another monster fantasy season as long as he can limit the turnovers and stay healthy.
Prescott is QB9 right now and going around pick 72. I feel that’s a fair spot for him, but also great value after he finished as a top-five fantasy option last season.
He’s a QB you should be able to start just about every week, and not having to spend an early pick on him makes him a good pick around that ADP. Prescott could definitely finish inside the top five again, but it also probably wouldn’t shock many if he fell outside the top 10. I like Prescott this season, but would probably back him up with another veteran with a late QB pick.
Running Back Fantasy Outlooks
It’s just like old times in the Dallas backfield, as Ezekiel Elliott is back. Rico Dowdle is his top backup, while Royce Freeman is another depth option.
Elliott spent his first seven years with the Cowboys before playing for the Patriots in 2023. In 17 games and five starts last season, Elliott rushed for 642 yards and three touchdowns on 184 attempts. He had 313 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 51 catches and 65 targets.
Dowdle appeared in 16 games for Dallas last season. He had 361 yards and two touchdowns on 89 rushing attempts. Dowdle added 144 receiving yards and two scores on 17 grabs and 22 targets.
Freeman has bounced around the league for a few seasons now. In 14 games with the Rams in 2023, he had 319 rushing yards and two scores on 77 attempts. Freeman had just one catch on two targets for 13 yards and no scores.
None of the Dallas backs have a ton of fantasy value right now, but the Elliott reunion with Dallas is something some fantasy owners are buying into. He’s RB38 and going around pick 111 now.
Elliott isn’t likely going to be the workhorse back he was in his first stint with Dallas, but he should clearly be RB1 for the Cowboys. On a high-scoring offense, I think Elliott is going to be a nice fantasy surprise this season. I love the value he presents around his current ADP, and would love taking him as one of my final backs for the upcoming season. He might start as a backup option, but become a startable player here and there.
Dowdle is RB45 and going around pick 136. I get a little hype around him after what he did last season, but I’m not a big fan of using a standard league draft pick on him. In deeper leagues, sure Dowdle makes some sense, but I’d treat Dowdle as a waiver wire/streaming option in a standard league.
Freeman can be avoided in all league formats unless Dowdle or Elliott sustains an injury between now and the start of the regular season. He won’t be anything more than a deep bench option in deep leagues unless one of the top two guys get injured.
Wide Receiver Fantasy Outlooks
CeeDee Lamb is the team’s No. 1 wideout and should easily be the top guy again (granted he gets some kind of contract extension before the season). Jalen Tolbert and Brandin Cooks are the likely starters around Lamb, while Jalen Brooks, Jalen Cropper, KaVontae Turpin and rookie Ryan Flournoy are some depth options right now.
Lamb easily had his best season in 2023. In 17 games, Lamb caught 135 of his 181 targets for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s increased his catches, yardage and touchdown total in each season during his four years in the league so far.
Cooks played in 16 games for the Cowboys last season. He made 54 grabs on 81 targets for 657 yards and eight scores. Cooks had 699 yards and three touchdowns with the Texans in 2022, so the move to Dallas appears to have made him a better fantasy option, even if his yardage isn’t going to be much higher.
Tolbert appeared in 17 games in his second NFL season. He caught 22 of the 36 passes thrown his way for 268 yards and two touchdowns.
Turpin caught 12 of his 18 targets for 127 yards and three scores in 16 games for Dallas last season. He added 110 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts. If your league also rewards kick/punt returners, Turpin is expected to be the guy for both in Dallas.
Brooks played in seven games in his first NFL season in 2023. He caught all six of his targets for 64 yards.
Cropper was on the team’s practice squad during the entire 2023 season. He has four catches for 26 yards in the preseason.
Flournoy was a sixth-round pick of the team this offseason. Flournoy, who has a touchdown catch in the preseason, had two monster seasons at Southeast Missouri State, going for 1,823 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.
Lamb is not only the top Dallas receiver, but is also the top fantasy receiver in terms of ADP. He’s pick two after Christian McCaffrey and often compared with Tyreek Hill.
As long as he’s on the field for the entire regular season, Lamb is going to have a chance to be fantasy WR1. I prefer Hill at pick two, but Lamb is certainly no slouch. Lamb should go in the top three for sure, unless he isn’t going to play at the start of the regular season.
Cooks is WR59 and going around pick 144. That makes him a late pick in standard league drafts. I expect a very similar season to the one he produced in 2023, but maybe a couple touchdowns less. He’ll be a streaming option throughout the season, but is a better starting option in deeper leagues.
None of the other Dallas receivers on the fantasy radar in really any leagues. One could emerge as a streaming option alongside Cooks and Lamb, but that’d probably only make sense in deeper leagues.
Tight End Fantasy Outlooks
Jake Ferguson is primed to have a big role in the Dallas offense this season. Luke Schoonmaker is his top backup.
Ferguson played in 17 games in his second NFL season last year. He made 71 receptions on 102 targets for 761 yards and five touchdowns.
Schoonmaker appeared in 17 games after being a second-round pick of the Cowboys in 2023. He made just eight grabs on 17 targets for 65 yards and two touchdowns.
Ferguson is TE10 and going around pick 83 right now. He finished as TE9 last season, so this ADP and ranking for him are fair.
He won’t lead the team in receiving with Lamb around, but he could be the second-most productive fantasy pass catcher on the team. Ferguson is the last TE on the ADP list that I’d trust as an every-week starter to begin the season, and I’d be fine taking him near his current ADP.
Schoonmaker is someone I’m sure the Cowboys would love to take a step forward this season, but right now, he shouldn’t be on anyone’s fantasy draft radar. I doubt he becomes a weekly starting fantasy option unless Ferguson is hurt, so I wouldn’t target Schoonmaker as a possible lottery fantasy TE.
#2024-fantasy-football
