Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Risers and fallers in the NFC East
By Drew DeLuca
Dallas Cowboys – Fantasy Football Stock Watch
As of this writing, Dak Prescott was still awaiting his big payday, and rumors were beginning to swirl about a potential holdout. According to Todd Brock of Cowboyswire, ESPN’s Ed Werner has reported that the two sides have not engaged in many fruitful discussions, which certainly makes the offseason addition of veteran quarterback Andy Dalton a bit more interesting to those in deeper fantasy leagues.
In that same article, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman believes Prescott isn’t getting the credit or “respect he deserves”, and former agent Joel Corry is also quoted as saying that he believes the Cowboys will “cave.” Most believe that an agreement will be reached to prevent Prescott from missing any part of the 2020 regular season.
Gone are possession-receiver Randall Cobb and future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten. Their shoes will be filled by stud rookie standout CeeDee Lamb and ascending talent Blake Jarwin, respectively.
Understandably, many believe that the addition of Lamb will affect the consistency of weekly target volume for the entire receiving corps. While it’s hard to envision a scenario in which Amari Cooper does not remain the top target in the offense in 2020, it’s quite possible that Lamb leapfrogs Michael Gallup as the WR2 in Dallas as early as this season.
Of the incumbents on the roster, no one sees a bigger lift in value than Prescott, who has ascended to QB3 in my redraft rankings for 2020, and Jarwin also comes out of this as a winner, as well. Still very much under-the-radar with a best ball ADP in the Round 15 range, the Oklahoma State product should see a significant rise in targets in 2020, especially in the red zone.
Close behind them both is bell-cow running back Ezekiel Elliott, who will benefit from more athleticism in the slot, allowing him more room to work underneath. He also stands to benefit tremendously from sufficient offensive line continuity (the team returns four of five starters) and enhanced efficiency due to the addition of the electric Lamb.