Fantasy Football Daily - Dallas Cowboys with Marcus Mosher | 2023 Franchise Focus Podcast

Episode Date: July 8, 2023

Another Divisional Round exit for the Cowboys led to some changes in Big D, the most notable of which was OC Kellen Moore being forced out. Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) of @LockedOnCowboys is never afraid to tell it like it is on the Cowboys, and he joins Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) to break down the 2023 Dallas Cowboys from a fantasy football perspective. Want to join a high-stakes dynasty league -- or any other high-stakes league? All new FFPC users get $25 off their first FFPC league of $35 or more, including dynasty orphans, using our affiliate link: ⁠https://myffpc.com/cms/public?affid=fantasypoints⁠ ⁠FANTASY POINTS PROJECTIONS ARE LIVE⁠ FOR ALL STANDARD AND PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS! Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. ⁠Use our code FANTASYPTS⁠ to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5! ⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time to 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. Fantasy Points Podcast Network, and this is the franchise-focused podcast series. The entire AFC should be in your feed if you haven't listened already. If you have listened, I hope you've taken away some apps. actionable bites of information. I hope the beat writers you were introduced to now end up on your Twitter feed or threads feed or whatever the dominant social media app is going to be eventually.

And I hope that you've filed away some of the sleepers that everybody has been given to you. So 16 teams down. And if you're listening to this, I'm kicking off the NFC East. We should be done with the franchise focus podcast series in just a couple of weeks. I have a bunch of them still scheduled that I haven't recorded. have a bunch recorded that I haven't published yet. It's been an undertaking, but the AFC is done and dusted. The NFC is next. So here is the NFC East on the franchise focus podcast series. Welcome back to the franchise focus podcast. Very special guests today as we

kick off our NFC East recordings and breakdowns. It's Marcus Mosher. He's a friend of the program. He was on last year. You can find him on Twitter at Marcus underscore Mosher. He is the host of the Locked on Cowboys podcast. And he's also the managing editor at the Raiders Wire, but Marcus, we're talking Cowboys today. I know that's your first love and your first passion and probably what most people associate you with.

So welcome to the program. Good to be with you. Yeah, thanks for having me back. I'm excited to talk about this Cowboys team that should be pretty good on offense once again. No doubt about it. Now, Marcus, you are, I would say most would know you very much from your fervent Tony Pollard support throughout the years. More touches for Tony Pollard, fewer for Zeke Elliott.

As it stands right now, this is Tony Pollard's backfield. Zeke Elliott is not currently on a roster. We'll get to him. But what's the outlook for Tony Pollard when he is projected to be the Cowboys lead running back? Tony Pollard to the moon. I just, I just don't see a way that he doesn't get 300 touches this year. I mean, you look at the rest of this backfield right now. It's the corpse of Ronald Jones. It's an untrafted free agent in Malick Davis. It's Deuce Vaughn, a 5-5-165-pound back. And that's it. Tony Pollard is the only proven guy in this backfield. Now he is coming off an injury. But the expectation is that he's going to be perfectly fine for training camp. The Cowboys want him to be the lead back. They want to get him 20 touches a game.

And I just don't see how that doesn't happen. seek elliot not currently on the cowboys roster we know jerry don't loves him some zeke elliot is there a chance zeke's back with the cowboys in twenty twenty three i think it's pretty low i you've only really heard jerry jones speaking about how the cowboys would like to have him back because i think the rest of the front office and the rest of the team not only knows that zeke is cooked but they also just want tony pauler to have his shot like this is his time he's worked so hard for it he was the guy last year that made you you know, the Pro Bowl team, despite not starting really any game. So, I mean, unless they have some injuries or, you know, something else happens, I don't see it happening right now. But you can't completely rule it out. Yeah. And so I think the Cowboys, and I think one of the things that you kept harping on last year was they needed speed.

You know, Michael Gallup coming off the injury was a shell of himself. Is there an, are you more optimistic on? on Michael Gallup this year. The fantasy community has tanked on him. You know he was one of the least efficient receivers in football. Is there a chance that he just wasn't 100% right? Oh, he wasn't 100% right. You can even watch him in the practices and the warm-ups.

Like he just, he's not healthy. Like he can't run full speed. Now, he is healthier now, but I'm still pretty pessimistic about his role of this offense because he's going to be the one running the routes down the sideline, the really difficult routes. he doesn't really offer that much after the catch. He's not really a big red zone option.

And then on top of that, his efficiency has dropped now in three straight years since 2019. I kind of think he's just the average number three receiver who's not going to get consistent targets week in and week out. So that's why they brought in Brandon Cooks. This was a trade that I think a lot of people knew the Cowboys. Jerry Jones does not sit on his laurels. I will say that. Like they knew the Cowboys needed some wide receivers. What's your outlook for Brandon Cooks?

What kind of statistical output do you think we can see from him? I mean, just based on history, what, like a thousand yards and seven touchdowns for Brandon Cooks, like for every single team that he's on? Yeah. No, I think he's going to be a really solid addition. Like his impact already in OTAs and mini camps has been unbelievable, making plays down the field. This is really the first time in Brandon Cook's career that he's not the number one or like

the 1B receiver on a team. Like he is fully entrenched as the number two receiver. He's embracing it. He's going to see an ungodly amount of single coverage in this offense. I don't know what the targets are going to look like week to week, but I can expect him to be very, very efficient with Dak Prescott. So let's take a macro view of the offense now. Obviously, Kellynmore moves on.

And you're well aware that in the Kellynne Moore, Dak Prescott era in that their marriage had been, at least on paper, successful. Only the Kansas City Chiefs, more yards and more points scored since Kellynne Moore had become the Cowboys offensive coordinator. We know about the playoff stallouts. What are you expecting is going to look different about this offense with Mike McCarthy calling the plays and Brian Schott and Heimer drawing it up? So let's first start with this.

I think the loss of Kellyn Moore is a pretty significant one. I know there's been some cowboy fans wanting to minimize it, but you mentioned it. Like, anytime Dak Prescott and Kellamore were on the field, they average about 30 points or game. That's really, really hard to do despite, you know, having a lot of injuries on the offensive line, lackluster receivers. Like, they were very productive together. Mike McCarthy talks about wanting to run the ball more and Brian Schottenheimer's known for his running game. I don't really believe it. You look at Mike McCarthy's history.

He likes to throw the ball. He likes to throw it a lot. my concern is, does the offense get a little stale? Is it too vanilla? Because that was the kind of the complaint in Green Bay with Mike McCarthy, not enough imagination. But I expect this to be a team that passes the ball pretty frequently. Don't expect them just to be 50-50 run split like Mike McCarthy and Brian Schoenheimer

are talking to the media right now in May and June. The Cowboys, you mentioned lackluster receivers. I think depth had been maybe a problem for them. They took Jalen Tolbert and before. third round last year. And I mean, this was a guy who was getting drafted in the middle rounds, not just of dynasty drafts. He was a guy getting drafted in the middle rounds of underdog bestball drafts.

I mean, he was a guy going in like 10th, 11th round. We saw virtually nothing from him. What happened with him? Is there a chance that there's a second year leap coming for Jalen Tolbert? Oh, I think there's a chance that he makes a leap because he only caught two patch, two passes last year. Like him just getting to 15 receptions would be a big breakout year for him. But the Cowboys put too much on his.

plate last year. They wanted him to learn all three receiver positions. They wanted him to come in and play it right away. And coming from South Alabama, he just wasn't ready for it. Like it was just too fast for him. Now that he's got a full year in the NFL, he feels more comfortable. He knows this offense. But he's buried on the depth chart.

Like at best, at the very best, he's the number four receiver in this offense. On an offense, it's going to use, you know, multiple tight end sets, multiple backs in the backfield at times. I think he could have a better year, but not be fantasy relevant at all. Would the Cowboys, in your opinion, have taken Dalton Kincaid if the bills didn't jump them in the first round of the draft? No, I don't think they would have. I know that was the rumor that they really liked Dalton Kincaid, but they seem pretty set on either Mazzie Smith, the defensive tackle from Michigan, who they drafted, or Matthew Bergeron, a guard from Syracuse. There's a great video of that, by the way, if you haven't seen it, them debating in the war room,

Yeah, I just don't get the sense that they were all that interested in grabbing a tight end in round one. I think they did want somebody like Michael Mayer or Luke Musgrave in round two. They ended up happening. They took Luke Schoonemaker instead. But no, I don't think Dolphin Kabe was a realistic option for them at all. So Schoonmaker was a pick. I think that was one of those picks where like, you know, everybody says, oh, that sounds like a region. Oh, I wasn't thinking of him in round two.

Yeah. So what did you think of Schoonmaker and his and his, um, and his, outlook. I mean, the profile looks really good, right? It's a six foot five, 250 pound tight end that tested as like a 98th percentile athlete. The problem is there's really no receiving production, which I can live with. We've seen plenty of tight ends come out of college with varied a little, you know, to no receiving production like George Kittle and be successful. But my biggest issue was the injuries. He's going to be a 25 year old rookie because he's missed a bunch of time at Michigan. in. And in his first OTA practice, he hurts his foot and then he hurts his knee and then he's got a hamstring injury.

And the Cowboys say he's going to be fine for training camp, but he couldn't even get through OTA practices without getting nicked up. So that's why I think he's going to be kind of a complimentary player, somebody who plays, you know, 15 to 20 snaps a game. I don't expect him to have a big impact as a rookie. Let's go to the other rookie skill position player they took. They took a wide receiver in the seventh round. but Deuce Vaughn kind of got a lot of press because his dad works on the Cowboys scouting staff. I mean, this is a, in my opinion, a five to seven kind of touch kind of guy. Did you like his profile though when you were studying him at Kansas State?

I mean, not really. It's a five-foot-five ready back that runs in like the four, you know, four-fives. But there is a role for that guy in this team. We've seen similar type of players have success in the NFL. I think the Cowboys just felt like they needed a little bit more juice on offense, with Malick Davis not really having that. Ronald Jones balking up to 2.30. That's not that intriguing.

They just needed somebody else. They feel like could create some plays out of the passing game. And I think Deuce Vaughn can do that for him or for them, assuming he makes the roster. I don't think he's a lot to make the roster, though, Joe. I think he's going to be battling for that third running back job. And if it's not Deuce Vaughn and it's not Ronald Jones, it's not Malik Davis, that's when I expect the Cowboys to go out and sign somebody else. What is Dak Prescott at this?

age in his career. He's going to turn 30 in July, which is not old for a quarterback by any stretch of the imagination. But we know the injury has kind of sapped him of some of that mobility. And really, that wasn't his game anyway. He's a pocket passer. Have we seen kind of Dak Prescott's ceiling? And is that why they're focused on building up the team around them? Yeah, we probably have. I just think as general NFL fans, we struggle to kind of appreciate the quarterbacks that are like outside of the top six or seven. Like we love Mahomes and Burrow and Josh Allen, but those guys that are like

at the bottom, you know, like 9, 10, 11, we wish they were better or they wish they were worse so they could move on for them, right? But that's kind of where Dak Prescott is. I think if you surround him with a lot of talent and a good offensive line and a good defense, you can go really far in the playoffs. And that's why the Cowboys have such a good record

when Dak is under center because he is still a very, very good quarterback. It's just, is he one? one of those guys that really moves the needle like a Josh Allen or Herbert or Herm Holmes. Probably not. But I think he is better than obviously Daniel Jones, Gino Smith. I think he's better than Kirk Cousins. But he's just,

he's in that weird range of NFL quarterbacks. What happened with the turnovers, do you think? Some of it's just fluke, right? And I think he had a couple that bounced off Noah Brown's chest into the arms of the defender, one that hit Peyton and Hennar shot, you know, in the shoulder. And that turned into an interception. I also think he was pressing a little bit.

We talked about the lack of talent around him. Like Michael Gallup wasn't creating separation. C.D. Lane was their only target. They had rookies in there. They had undrafted rookie free agents playing. And I think he likes to be aggressive on third and ten. And you look at like of his 15 interceptions, 12 happened when it was third and 10 or longer.

He's just not going to be a quarterback that on third and 10, third and 11 is going to dunk the ball underneath and settle for a punt. He wants to be. aggressive. He wants to move the chance. Sam Bradford, yeah. Which I could live with. Like, if you have a quarterback that understands, we need to go get points. We need to continue this drive. And hey, every once in a while you're going to throw interception, it's fine. I think we just overreact interceptions a little bit too much. You mentioned that Matthew Bergeron was in consideration for the Cowboys with their first round pick. He ended up going early on day two to the Atlanta Falcons.

So there was definitely some first round buzz for him. Indications that the Cowboys And look, the Cowboys do it, the Eagles do it, investing on the offensive line. It doesn't matter if you have the best line in the league. You always want to get more depth. Cowboys didn't end up addressing the line, though, until the fifth round with A seam Richards. Does that concern you a little bit, knowing that some of the guys are getting older up there, up front there? A little bit, but they do have some depth, right?

They brought back Tyron Smith, who played right tackle for them last year. I expected to start the year at left tackle. They drafted Tyler Smith in the first round last year, and he played, extremely well. I expect him to play left guard. Terrence Steele. Their right tackle was playing at an all pro level, you know, early in the year. He should be back. It's an offensive line with some question marks, but at least they have some numbers that they can kind of throw out the position. I don't think it's going to be an elite unit by any means, but it's certainly going to be better than average. And defensively for the Cowboys, one of the things, I don't talk a ton of defense on this program. Usually it's all offense. But the Cowboys, sacks turnovers. That translates to fantasy points. They managed to get Dan Quinn,

who got a ton of, and justifiably so, a ton of head coaching hype, managed to get him back in the fold. I would guess you'd be disappointed if this wasn't a top five defense in the NFL. Yeah, and if there's one reason why I might be a little bit not likely to draft some players at their ADP

on the Cowboys offense, like Cid Lane, like Tony Pollard, like Dak, is because of this defense. I think this defense is going to be awesome. You've got Michael Parsons going into year three. They've got their defensive line is absolutely loaded.

They added Stefan Gilmore to play opposite of Trayvon Diggs. They've got three safeties last year that played over 800 snaps. They brought back late in Vandreash. They continue to add players in agency down that side of the ball. They should be in contention for the number one defense in the league with arguably the best defensive coordinator in the league and Dan Quinn. They're going to really shut some teams down this year. So let's talk CD Lamb because we haven't mentioned him yet, at least specifically. He is a he has he's carrying a first round ADP.

There is more competition for targets. You said you think Tony Pollard's going to push for 300 touches, which which isn't going to cut into CDLand because Zieg Elliott as of now is gone. But Brandon Cooks is back and Michael Gallops. You're healthier. You said maybe a little hesitant to draft somebody like CD Lamb at ADP. Nonetheless, I mean, the NFL's target leader is, I would guess, in his range of outcomes this year. Oh, yeah. And let's be real. He's being drafted, what, like 10, 11 overall?

So basically at the turn. Right. Yeah. Right. So, I mean, if you're getting him at 12 rather than 10, that's a fine pick. We're talking about like the difference in one or two spots, but I just don't know how much more targets he could get this year. I mean, he already had 150 last year. But it's the efficiency that could go up. And for me, it's the touchdowns. Like he was so far below expectation when it came to touchdowns. He only scored, I think seven last year. that's how he could outperform his ADP. If all of a sudden he's at 14 touchdowns because he's getting a couple more red zone looks

or he's able to take some of these 20-yard gains into 40-yard gains and turn him into touchdowns, that's how I think C.D. Lamb gets better. But I think, you know, 1,300 yards, 100 plus catches is very, very realistic for him again this year. Do you expect him to run the majority of his routes out of the slot this year? Yeah, yeah. I mean, the Cowboys are, they know where their bread is buttered here.

Like, just let him work. out of the slot, let him work against linebackers and safeties, and he's going to absolutely crush it. Yeah, like, I think people have gotten over the slot receiver label, but like, I mean, it doesn't matter if you gain 10 yards out of the slot or 10 yards out why they count all the same. It's the same, right? And I, it also helps CDA avoid some of that, you know, press man coverage and it allows them to get some really favorable mismatches. And now with Brandon Cook's being able to play on the outside, it makes even more sense to keep CD lame in the slot. So Marcus, I've been wrapping up the franchise focus podcast by asking my guests,

an underrated player on the roster who could contribute for fantasy. Who do you think that is for the Cowboys? I think it's going to be Jake Ferguson. So we talked about Luke Schoonmaker who can't stay healthy at all, but I think he's going to be more of that blocking tight end. Peyton Hennershot, an undrafted free agent, not ready for a bigger role. Ferguson was the guy last year. Whenever he got opportunities, he impressed.

And we know that Dak Prescott loves throwing the ball at the, the tight ends, especially in the red zone. I could see Ferguson without, you know, doing too much, being a 650-yard receiver, seven or eight touchdowns, he's been the guy pretty clearly in training camp, or, excuse me, in ODTAs and mini-camps that has been the tight-ed end one. We know in this offense, there's going to be very efficient. There's going to be lots of points scored.

He's the guy that I'm targeting, especially considering you can get him basically for free right now in your draft. Yeah, he's the last. pick. He's a guy, Graham Barfield, has been stacking a ton with Dak Prescott. His name is Marcus Mosher. If you want to stack your analysis, he's got Cowboys and Raiders on lockdown at Marcus underscore Mosher on Twitter. Marcus is a friend of the radio program, and it was a pleasure to have him back on. Marcus, thanks for joining me talking Cowboys. Thanks, Joe. Anytime. 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 ride. at fantasy points.com.