Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Franchise Focus: Dallas Cowboys

Episode Date: July 21, 2022

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) invites Locked On Cowboys host Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) to discuss the upcoming season for the Dallas Cowboys. The Franchise Focus Podcast series is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy (@UnderdogFantasy). New users can sign up to Underdog using promo code FANTASYPTS for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. Visit fantasypoints.com/underdog for more info. The podcast series is also sponsored by Evan's Sports Cards & Collectibles (@evanscards). Follow @EvansCards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases, Like on Facebook, and head to evanssportsnj.com for more info, including the always-updated eBay store. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fantasypoints.com and the 2022 franchise focus series is sponsored by Underdog Fantasy, the best and easiest way to play fantasy sports, with no waivers, trades, or lineup setting for season-long drafts. New users can sign up to Underdog Fantasy Fantasy, PTS, for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. That's promo code FantasyPTS. Head to FantasyPoint.com slash Underdog for more information. Now let's get to the show. It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle,

from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Welcome back to the franchise focus series of podcasts here at FantasyPoint.com. My name is Joe Dolan. We are really kind of hitting the final stretch. We're going to have all of these podcasts. and all of these articles out to you by July 30th. That was my goal this year. We carried these into August last year, and it was an absolute nightmare dealing with

that with all the training camp updates. But we have done it this year. We are going to get them all out the door by the end of July. And I'm anticipating this will be one of our more popular episodes because, well, we're talking to America's team. We're talking to Dallas Cowboys. And we are doing so with market. If you're on fantasy Twitter, if you're on NFL Twitter, if you're on Cowboys,

Twitter, you know the guy. He's got the Mike Pyson Punchout Avatar. You follow him on Twitter at Marcus underscore Mosher. He is the managing editor of the Raiders Wire. So, hey, look, one-stop shop. You get your Raiders and your Cowboys takes because he's also the host of the Locked-on Cowboys podcast. Marcus, I know you're a fantasy guy.

You got the Locked-on Dynasty podcast. This is a really great intersection of everything we need here for the franchise-focused podcast because you're a fantasy guy, you know your deep fantasy guys. And look, but you know your Cowboys as well. This is really exactly what we're going for on this podcast. Welcome to the show, my friend. It's good to be talking to you. Thanks, Joe, for having me on.

This is going to be a lot of fun. I will say a little story about my Mike Tyson punchout profile picture. I went to the Fantasy Expo last year, walked around the first day, and nobody recognized me because they didn't recognize me without the Mike Tyson's profile picture. So I promised this year I would wear a T-shirt with the Mike Tyson profile picture, so at least some people can know what I look like. Well, I'll have, you know, I'll see you there, by the way, because I am going. Now, you, that's a pretty quick drive for you.

I'm into, uh, yeah, it's like two and a half hours. It's not bad at all. Yeah, you're up in Erie, Pennsylvania. I used to drive to Canton from State College, PA, which was, uh, three, three and a four hours. So not a bad, uh, not a bad drive now. I'm flying this year because I'm now in South Carolina, but it'll be nice to see you there. It's a lot of fun.

Yeah, it's going to be, uh, we're actually, make sure you're there for. Friday because Fantasy Points is hosting the party, the Friday night party. So we'll see you there. And hey, if you're in the Philadelphia area, just how everybody knows the franchise focus series of podcast is brought to you by Evans Sports Cards and Collectibles, the best place for cards, collectibles, autographs, and more.

When we do a memorabilia giveaway at Fantasy Points, it's all ways from Evans. And Evans always has the latest boxes and releases from Panini, upper deck, tops, and more. And it's a family-owned small business, not a super store, so you get to know the staff and they get to know you. If you're in the Philadelphia area, again, great for an in-person visit. But if you're not, like me and Marcus, it's just as good to visit the eBay store. And you can know when that's

updated by following at Evans' cards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases. You can also get that by liking Evans on Facebook and heading to Evansportsnj.com. Where you can get that always updated eBay store. That's Evansportsnj.com online and at Evans' cards on Twitter. Tell them that the guys from FantasyPoint.com sent you. You know, Marcus, things have been, you know, relatively stable with the Cowboys for a number of years. But we're starting to see a little bit of the changes here that always have to happen in the NFL with the churn. And the one constant, though, is Dak Prescott, obviously.

He's got the long-term contract extension. But from a fantasy perspective, we're going to get to the receiving core, which is obviously a huge question. From a fantasy perspective, though, you start to see Dak Prescott's ADP dipping a little bit. And I think that is in large part because really he's a pocket passer now. You know, the rushing because obviously he had the ankle injury, which might have affected things. But do you anticipate another year removed from that injury? Dak Prescott maybe running a little bit more like he used to early in his career?

Or is this kind of what we have right now with that Prescott? Somebody whose legs are just not so much a weapon as they are just a little bit of a tool he can use. But really pocket passing is the foundation of Dak. game. Do you expect that will be the case here in 2022? Yeah, I do expect Dak to run a little bit more. And he's actually talked about it this off season. He's not going to be Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen. But can't he, you know, score four or five rushing touchdowns this season like he did earlier in his career? Can he make a couple guys missing the open field? I think so. We're not going to project them for big

rushing stats, Joe. But I think he can be capable enough in that area. But the great thing for Dak is he doesn't have to be a great runner to be fantasy relevant, you know, very productive. We've seen since Kellynne Moore has been the offensive coordinator of this team in 2019, Doc Prescott has averaged over 300 passing yards a game. We say sometimes pocket passer has a bad thing. Dak is an incredible pocket passer. So if he's just that again this year, I still think he's going to be a top six, top seven fantasy quarterback. Yeah, but then that gets into obviously the big question, and that being the receiving core.

Obviously, Amari Cooper's gone. Michael Gallopsville. Let's start there. Let's start with Michael Gallup. His availability. He got injured late in the season, serious knee injury. What are you hearing about his availability early in the season? What do you anticipate we're going to see from Michael Gallup and when we'll see Michael Gallup?

I think the Cowboys are going to be really cautious here. I think if they wanted to push him, he could be ready by week one. There's just no incentive to do that, right? This is the, you know, 17 game NFL season. the Cowboys have playoff aspirations. They want him to be healthy in November and December rather than in September. So I kind of expect him to miss the first three or four games of the season. But when he does return for him to come back at 100% playing 60, 70% of the snaps.

And this is actually what they did last year with Michael Galp. If you remember, he got hurt in week one with a calf injury. The Cowboys gave him a bunch of time off. And then when he came back, right back into the starting lineup with all his usual routes run. again, I expect him to miss a couple games, but he won't miss 10, you know, 8 to 10 games. Like I'm seeing a lot of people project them to the miss right now. Yeah, that's not going to happen. I don't anticipate that.

But, you know, when he comes back, he and C.D. Lamb now, and C.D. Lamb early in his career, his rookie season, I guess we're only in this third year. He was predominantly a slot receiver. I always like, you know, from a fantasy perspective, Marcus, I always like that. Because when I have a talented guy, you know, you feel like, oh, he's in the slot. those are the type of corners he can dominate. Turns out he goes outside, has a pretty damn good season doing so. Do you expect to him to move around quite a bit? Or when Michael Gallops out early in the year, is C.D. Lamb kind of, he's your ex-receiver,

getting all that top coverage. What do you expect Hellen Moore to do here with him? Part of the reason the Cowboys felt really comfortable moving on from Omari Cooper's because they wanted to see C.D. Lamb in an expanded role. They wanted to get him more touches. they wanted to have the flexibility of moving him all over the formation and getting him the ball. I expect there to be a lot of snaps where he's playing inside, snaps where he's lined up as a flanker, snaps as the X.

He's not going to be one of these guys that plays 75% of the snaps on the outside. The Cowboys know that's just not in their greatest interest to do that. So they're going to find ways to get him the ball. Man, Joe, I think he isn't for a monster, monster season. And I mean, he's being drafted as such. Like, I don't know how many drafts you've done so far. But, like, man, he's one of those guys, like, if I'm drafting at the end of round one, I'm fully in on Dalvin Cook this year.

I understand people are going to disagree because of the injury problems. But, man, I've had some drafts where I'm at the back end of round one, and I'm able to start Dalvin Cook and C.D. Lamb or Joe Mixon and C.D. Lamb. Pretty appealing way to start. I mean, like, I mean, I mean, I know there's some in the industry. and I'm kind of almost there ranking CD Lamb over Devante Adams with Devante Adams going to the new home. And look, you cover both teams. So what do you think of that?

Yeah, I mean, in the Scott Fishbowl, I just took CD Lamb over Devante Adams, Debo Samuel, Tyree Kill. Because I just think Citi's targets are going to go way from what we saw last year. 120 targets. There was six games last year where he had five or fewer targets. That's just not going to happen. Like the Cowboys are going to make it a priority to get him the ball. I think 150, 160 targets is not out of the realm of possibilities at all. Well, I mean, look, when Michael Gallup's injured, though, Amari Cooper moves on.

I know you're high on Dalton Schultz, but we'll get to him. Who is the next guy up on that receiver depth chart? There is going to be some Jalen Tolbert hype, but he was a third round pick out of a smaller school. So, you know, you can temper your expectations. Do you expect Jalen Tolbert, James Washington, to kind of battle for that number three role? Yes, but I actually think Tolbert's already winning that battle. James Washington's missed most of the offseason with a foot injury. I don't think he's a fantastic fit in this offense.

He's kind of a long, striding, deep receiver. And that's not really Dax game. Dax game is get the ball out of his hands quickly, into the hands of the receivers, and let them make plays after the catch. I think Tolbert fits that better. And I also think Tolbert, if you look at his film at South Alabama, he played in the slot a ton. And I kind of think that's where he's going to start Gallup on the outside, C.D. Lamb moving all over.

I think of those other receivers, Pover's going to be the guy that gets the most opportunities. It feels like the fantasy community has a good pulse of the Cowboys, though, right? Because C.D. Lamb is going, like you think, 150, 160 targets are within a realm of outcomes. Well, he's being drafted as such. He's being drafted as a top 16 player. And then the next cowboy off the board, often even before, at least from a past catching standpoint, often even before Dak Prescott, is Dalton Schultz, the title. end. I mean, you would have to think, based on how this roster stacks up right now, the overwhelming favorite to be number two on the team in targets, wouldn't you? Oh, oh, yeah. He had 104 targets last year, and that was even splitting some snaps with Blake Jarwin, who the team released earlier

this off season. Yeah, he had 104 targets last year. I think 120 is not all that impossible for him. The other thing is, Dak Prescott absolutely loves him. He trusts him to get open. He's pretty good after the catch second the NFL last year and yards after the catch per reception. I expect Shultz to have another one of these 800-yard, eight touchdown seasons with maybe even the potential to have a little bit better year. Yeah, like he's been a kind of a hot button guy on Twitter. I don't know if you. I saw JJ's his thing the other day.

Yes. Yeah, so by the way, if y'all are on fantasy Twitter, JJ Zacharias in late round QB. Marcus and I are actually recording this a week before we're releasing the podcast, but he's been really going to actually back and forth, and incredibly respectfully with our guy, Graham Barfield at fantasy points, who is very high on Shultz. And JJ doesn't really see the ceiling, but like the way I look at it here, to compare to another NFC East team, Marcus,

it feels like there's a, there was a little bit of Zachert's typeness here. Well, maybe he's not the gronk, you know, 16, yard a catch type of guy, but a guy who's just like, man, on third and five, he's going to get you seven or eight yards, maybe almost in a way that Jason Winton used to be. Yeah, and I would also say with Schultz, it's important to remember that he really broke out in 2020 after Dak Prescott was out with an injury. So Dax's only gotten to play with him one season, but during their career, Schultz's averaged about 52 receiving yards per game with Dack under center. I expect that to grow. I expect their chemistry and their connection to be even better.

this season. So that's why I can see the ceiling. I think the floor is incredibly high because he is going to be the number two pass catcher on, I mean, I would think a really good offense once again. So again, I think the ceiling is pretty high, especially when you consider he might lead this team in red zone targets as well. Yeah. How worried are you about the offensive line? Worried. It's getting old. Tyrone Smith is really struggling to stay healthy. Even somebody like Zach Martin, I thought, took a small step back last year. Tyler Biotr's center is very average. They drafted Tyler Smith to play left guard, but he is a raw, raw prospect. They let go of Lyle Collins. Now they're playing Tarynsteel. I think if everybody stays healthy, it could be a slightly above average offensive line.

But we know that that doesn't happen in the NFL. You have injuries all over the place. And the Cowboys depth, especially at offensive tackle, is not good. There's a reason why this team He doesn't win, you know, nine, ten, eleven games this year. It's going to be because of their offensive line. You know, Terrence Steele was the depth guy, right? Yeah, like, and he was a good one. But now, now, you're like, yeah, unfortunately, like, I know people are a little concerned. You know, Tyler Smith, they're expecting him to take over for Tyron Smith eventually, certainly

probably, look, if he has to play left tackle this year, I would presume the Cowboys would be in pretty bad shape up front. Just based on what we're hearing from OTAs and mini camps is that I don't. I got squash pretty quickly. Like if there's an injury to Tyron Smith, they're probably going to go out and sign somebody because I don't think they have any interest in getting their franchise quarterback killed back there. Yeah.

So that definitely something to worry about. And like, and now let me transition into what would be the obvious question. I've kind of been doing that a lot on these podcasts, Mark, is kind of burying the lead a little bit. Part of the reason you have to move on from Lyle Collins. Obviously, you pay back press got a lot of money. That's fine. But they're paying Ezekiel Elliott a lot of money.

Ezekiel Elliott is one of those guys who a lot of fantasy players just do not want to touch. I mean, we're talking about a guy who was a top five pick last year who's like a third, fourth, fourth round pick this year. How much of a factor was the injury? Because that's what the Cowboys are saying publicly. How much do you think the injury, the PCL injury, was a factor for Zik last year? It was a factor. But at the same time, we've seen Ezekieliot decline now in six straight seasons. his rushing yards per game have gone down in each of the last six seasons.

The yards per attempt have gone down in each of the last four seasons. Listen, when you have a running back that's 27 years old with all this mileage on them, they start to break down. And any little nicked bump does slow them down. He's not a home run hitter anymore. He's pretty inefficient in the passing game. But Joe, I got to say, I'm still drafting him quite a bit this year because I think the hate has gotten a little bit too far.

Yeah. I've seen him go in third, fourth rounds. of some drafts that I'm doing. That's common, by the way. That's basically every draft that I've been doing. Yeah. To me, that's kind of crazy, considering he's still this team's workhorseback. He's going to get 275 plus touches.

He's their red zone running back. And since 2019, whenever Dak Prescott's been underscentered, this is the number one offense in the league in yards per game. If you can give me the lead back on an offense like that, it doesn't cost me a top three pick. I'm doing it. So I think you're obviously well aware, and I know what your feelings about Tony Pollard are, and I think you're well aware that a lot in the fantasy community are drafting Tony Pollard aggressively

as in like, well, if Zeke's breaking down, this guy has been super efficient. And I always look at it, I call this, it's not so much Tony Pollard's. Let me rephrase. I call this Janus's Razor, okay? Because you know about Jeff Janus. Yes, yes. My thing with Janus's razor was, yeah, I don't care how. how high you are on a player. If the coach doesn't play him, he's not going to put up fantasy numbers.

And Tony Pollard isn't anywhere near that. But my question is, is there a reason maybe beyond just what they're paying Zeeke? Because ultimately, Jerry Jones, yeah, he wants to get a return on his investment, but ultimately Jerry Jones wants to win, okay? Is there a reason Tony Pollard hasn't gotten more than the eight to ten touches per game that he's gotten and has been very efficient with? Do they just not trust him with more work than that? No, it's not that. It's not that they don't trust him because we've seen, you know, there's been a game where Ezekiel Elliott missed time and Tony Pollard got 26 touches

in a win over San Francisco. So I don't think it has anything to do with Tony Pollard. If Ezekiel Elliott wasn't here, we'd be talking about Tony Pollard as a borderline first-run pick. Like, I fully believe that. It's just they love Zik. They love that they can put him on the field in all three downs. He doesn't wear it down as the game goes on. He can play in the passing game and protect Doc Prescott.

that it's really just the overall faith of the coaching staff and Zeke rather than a lack of faith in Tony Pollard. Yeah, so, I mean, Tony Pollard, I'm sure you've seen, you know, sometimes he's going seventh round in fantasy drafts. You think that's defensible based on the potential upside here. Yeah, because if Ezekiel Elliott misses, let's say six games with a hamstring injury or something like that, Tony Pollard is going to be getting 20 touches a game. He's going to be the guy that's getting work in the passing game. We've already seen an OTAs in minicamp. When the Cowboys go to like third down package,

it's Tony Pollard lining up in the slot and getting a lot of targets. This is somebody who averaged 6.2 yards per touch last season. He's just an incredible football player. And I do think the Cowboys are working to find more ways to get him and Ezekia Elliott on the field at the same time. I think you would think there's a chance they do that this year because the receiving core is so unsettled. So, yeah, that'll be really interesting to see.

Marcus, I know you have an opinion on somebody else in this receiving court, and I'm going to finish with the way I've finished most of these podcasts, asking my guest, the analyst, somebody who's maybe a deep sleeper, nobody's really thinking about, who has a shot to put up numbers in this offense. And you mentioned off there that the Cowboys are top heavy, so it's tough. But you managed to surprise me. You came out with a good name. Throw it out to the people, maybe the dynasty players who might be surprised by this.

Yeah, let me just set this up. So let's look at the Cowboys wide receiver core again, going into training camp at least. It's C.D. Lamb. It's Michael Gallup who won't probably play in the first few weeks of the season. It's James Washington, who hasn't practiced at all with a foot injury. It's a rookie Jalen Tolbert who's also had a hamstring injury this offseason. Semi Fahoku, their fourth-run pick last year, or fifth-th-th-round pick, excuse me, has not necessarily impressed. So the guy that's actually been running with the ones a lot in the off-season is T-Fa-old. J. Bashar, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound receiver who has actually been working out at Doc Prescott's house a lot this off-season.

He's somebody that he trusts in the red zone. I wouldn't be shocked if we get to week one against Tampa Bay. And when the Cowboys go to three wide receiver sets, T.J. Bashar is on the field, not James Washington, not J. the tollbert, but T.J. Vashner. So it's Tampa Bay week one, you said, right? Yes. Oh, for the second straight year. Interesting. Also, there you go. How about that for a minpriced guy on draft kings? Hey, I mean, look, we'll check them out in the preseason, Marcus. And, you know, like you said, yeah, the Cowboys are top heavy, but there's a lot of upheaval there this year. So it's going to be interesting to see, do you expect Prescott to get preseason run at all? No, I don't think, I don't expect him to play a single staff in the preseason.

We saw it last year, right? The Cowboys didn't play him at all in preseason, and he only had like one week of training camp practice because of the shoulder injury, and he came out blazing against Tampa Bay. Like, I think after the way it played out last year, there's just no incentive to get him on the field at all. What we will see, T.J. Vashor in training camp,

and training camp in the preseason, and when you want Cowboys takes during training camp, the preseason, heck, whenever. And you want Raiders takes, too? follow at Marcus Mosher on Twitter. He is the managing editor of the Raiders Wire. And he is the co-ho, excuse me, Marcus here. Your podcast name is Locked on Cowboys, correct?

Yes, yes. And Locked-on Dynasty. Sorry, I closed my notes app there because I'm in it. But it is the Locked-on Cowboys and the Locked-on Dynasty podcast. Marcus, it's great talking to you, man. Yo, hopefully we can get together. We can party at the, at the Fr, FF Expo and Cam. Oh, we're going to have a blast.

Everybody go check it out. Try to come and visit us. It's a lot of fun. That is Marcus Mosher. My name is Joe Dolan. I hope you enjoyed this edition of the franchise focus podcast here at FantasyPoints. Keep an eye out for T.J. Vashor. Keep an eye out for the rest of our podcast this week. We're going to be talking Browns. Might have a little something to discuss there.

Bengals, Bears next week. And then we're going to wrap it up all the way with the beginning of the alphabet because we went in reverse order this year. Thanks, everybody, and we'll talk to you later. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate and review on your favorite platform and come join the roster at FantasyPoints.com.