100 Questions: Fantasy Football 2024 (Dallas Cowboys)

As we head toward the start of the 2024 NFL and fantasy football season, FTN Fantasy editor-in-chief Daniel Kelley is asking (and attempting to answer) the 100 most pressing questions in fantasy football. This is 100 Questions. Today: The Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL realigned in 2002, when the Texans entered the league and the Seahawks moved from the AFC to the NFC. In 22 seasons under the current alignment, nine teams have failed to ever win consecutive division titles. Here they are, most division titles to fewest:

Team	Division Titles
Dallas Cowboys	7
Atlanta Falcons	4
New York Giants	3
Washington Commanders	3
Jacksonville Jaguars	2
Detroit Lions	1
Miami Dolphins	1
New York Jets	1
Cleveland Browns	0

For the most part, teams that go a long time with repeat division titles do so because they are bad for a long time (or at least, in the case of the Dolphins and Jets, worse than a dynasty) and just don’t even win one title very often, so there aren’t that many chances to have repeat crowns.

The Cowboys? The Cowboys have 200 wins in those 22 seasons, an average of more than 9 wins a year. They have nine seasons of double-digit wins. Ten playoff appearances. An Offensive Player of the Year, an Offensive Rookie of the Year, a Defensive Rookie of the Year. Just no runs. You know they haven’t made the Conference Championship Round since the 1995 season. That’s interesting, but only four teams can make that each year. The fact that they’ve had this much success and no back-to-back division titles? That’s wild to me. And in 2024, they get another chance at it. Let’s see.

The Questions

29. Do We Even Care About Ezekiel Elliott at This Point?
30. Can We Ignore Cowboys’ WRs After CeeDee Lamb?
31. The Backfield’s Dull, The Receivers Aren’t Deep… Is Jake Ferguson a Superstar?

100 Questions for 2024: Dallas Cowboys

Do We Even Care About Ezekiel Elliott at This Point?

At this point in his career (he’s entering his ninth year!), the best you can really say about Ezekiel Elliott as a ball carrier is that he protects the football (3 fumbles on 767 touches the last three years) and is relatively durable. He certainly isn’t a very explosive runner anymore (3.9 yards per carry the last three years, 3.7 the last two; among backs with 200-plus carries last year, only Austin Ekeler at 7 had fewer 10-plus-yard carries than Elliott’s 8). So any fantasy investment in Zeke wouldn’t be based on “He gets so many yards!” like it was early in his career.

The flip side of that argument is … it doesn’t really have to be. Rico Dowdle was more efficient than Elliott last year, but he’s at 113 touches in four years and it’s not like his 4.0 career yards per carry is wowing anyone. The only other back worth conversation in Dallas is (somehow) Royce Freeman, who is on his fifth team in seven years and hasn’t had even 320 yards in a season since 2019 (in other words, this training camp buzz around Freeman feels like the least consequential stuff on earth).

ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 15: Dallas Cowboys Running Back Ezekiel Elliott (21) signals first down during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams on December 15, 2019 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. (Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire) — ARLINGTON, TX – DECEMBER 15: Dallas Cowboys Running Back Ezekiel Elliott (21) signals first down during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams on December 15, 2019 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. (Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire)

And then there’s this: After fewer than 40 targets each of his first two seasons, Elliott actually became a threat as a receiver — he’s had at least 65 targets and 47 receptions in five of his last six seasons, and he among running backs last year, he was 12^th in targets (65), 13^th in receptions (51) and 17^th in receiving yards (313). Dowdle has 79 receptions since high school (62 in four years in college, 17 in four years in the NFL). Freeman has exactly one NFL season of more than 14 receptions, and that was five years ago. And the Cowboys aren’t exactly flush with receiving options after CeeDee Lamb, who is still holding out for a new deal.

In other words, Zeke isn’t going to threaten for RB1 status by any means, but he’s all but guaranteed (assuming health, but then that’s true of everyone and Zeke rarely gets hurt) to have a load of quantity as a rusher, even if the quality is lacking, and add a solid 80-plus PPR points as a receiver. That adds up to the least exciting RB2 season of all time, maybe flex. And at RB37 in current ADP … it hurts to say, but Ezekiel Elliott might be the low-ceiling steal of 2024 drafts.

Can We Ignore Cowboys’ WRs After CeeDee Lamb?

As I write this, Lamb is holding out. For the purposes here, we’ll assume Lamb and the Cowboys agree to an extension or he reports in some other way — if he doesn’t, this offense might be toast, so you can just move on to the next team in this series (Except don’t! You’ll hurt my time-on-page numbers!). Assuming that’s all worked out, he’s the WR1 or close in fantasy this year. But, especially considering the underwhelming backfield, there should be enough receiving work in Dallas for a second receiver. So who is that?

At a glance, the answer seems obvious — Brandin Cooks had 657 yards last year. All other receivers on the roster had 459, and the rookies are a sixth-rounder (Ryan Flournoy) and two UDFAs. The problem is that, sure, Cooks has been a star for a while, but he’s now on back-to-back seasons under 700 yards, and his 1.25 yards per route run last year were (a) comfortably the lowest of his career and (b) 18^th-worst among 80 receivers with at least 50 targets. Cooks turns 31 in September, and while sure, maybe he bounces back, I want no part of him in 2024.

Which brings us to Jalen Tolbert. The Cowboys’ third-rounder in 2022, Tolbert has done basically nothing in the NFL, with 24 receptions on 39 targets for 280 yards and 2 scores in two years. But then that was always the expectation out of Tolbert in the NFL, coming into the league as a small-school prospect out of the Sun Belt. Tolbert has all the measurables and is now 25. Give me Tolbert over Cooks in fantasy in 2024. That might not make either of them a fantasy factor, but if I’m trying to find a wild card in the Dallas offense who could help me later in the season, I’m definitely opting for the young guy.

The Backfield’s Dull, The Receivers Aren’t Deep… Is Jake Ferguson a Superstar?

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 20: Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson (87) warms up before a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys on November 20, 2022, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire) — MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 20: Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson (87) warms up before a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys on November 20, 2022, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)

Entering last year, the Cowboys had three tight ends, and we didn’t really know how to sort them. We kind of thought Jake Ferguson was the favorite to get the work, but he hadn’t really set himself apart from Luke Schoonmaker or Peyton Hendershot. Early in the season, Ferguson was clearly getting the targets, but the production didn’t follow, with 5 receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown the first two weeks. As the season went on, though, and guys like Cooks and Michael Gallup struggled and Hendershot and Schoonmaker didn’t develop, the Dallas passing offense narrowed down to Lamb and Ferguson, with Ferguson closing the season with seven straight games (including the playoffs) of at least 6 targets and 12 total such games in 18 outings on the season.

The problem is that Ferguson tended to lack a ceiling. He only topped 20 PPR points once during the regular season, only topped 15 twice. (Of course, he then had 10-12-93-3 in their postseason game, but that doesn’t count.) Ferguson might have a higher floor than guys around him in ADP like David Njoku, Brock Bowers and T.J. Hockenson, but he’s the one there I feel most secure has no chance for threatening to be the overall TE1. Do we care? Only sort of! As a one-player position, floor is very important at tight end, and given the paucity of option in Dallas, Ferguson is a locked-in fantasy starter, and I’d be fine taking him as a mid/late TE1, a few spots ahead of his draft slot. That floor is so valuable, especially if you go for more variance at the other positions.