Five Biggest Questions
1. Can Dak Prescott be counted on as a top-5 QB?
2. Is Zeke Elliott a trustworthy near-elite RB?
3. Will CeeDee Lamb be a WR1?
4. Is Amari Cooper a top-16 WR?
5. Will the team's starting tight end (more likely Blake Jarwin) be a TE1?
Last year I snagged Dak Prescott in the fifth round of a draft that included Michael Thomas and Davante Adams in the first two rounds and the ridiculously undervalued Keenan Allen in round 4. Thought I had about 85 weekly points just from those guys. It turned out to be 82, with Michael Thomas limping to 12 points per game. Dak did everything I'd hoped he would before getting hurt, dominating in all aspects of the game thanks to an active pass-catching backfield (80 receptions combined for Zeke Elliott and Tony Pollard) and four highly capable-to-elite receivers. Dak (QB-5 ADP) is getting all six of these guys back this season. If his latest arm soreness turns out to be as "minor" as head coach Mike McCarthy claims it is, Dak will be one of those rare undervalued top-5 QBs. Outside of re-injury, there's nothing stopping him from building off of his 4,902/30/11 campaign from two years ago and finishing in the top 3.
Pollard helped many of us last season, but he's still only the second most talented member of this backfield. Zeke was tearing it up until Dak got hurt. The team struggled without their franchise quarterback, and that included their franchise RB. It also didn't help that Zeke was coming off his second consecutive monster-workload campaign (736 combined touches). Running backs coach Josh Hicks observed he "probably slowed down a little bit or lost a step a little bit." This year Zeke should get most of the touchdowns that don't come from Dak's arm or feet. For a team that had 19 scores in their first five games with Dak and only 20 in their final 11 without Dak, Zeke (RB-7) is a strong bet to eclipse 12 touchdowns, while Pollard (RB-44) remains an elite handcuff.
CeeDee Lamb's ascension continues. His WR ADP (13) is now better than Amari Cooper's (16). Amari will be playing catch-up when the regular season begins due to ankle surgery this summer. As a first-round rookie, Lamb was on pace for a 93/1,386/6 through five weeks. That's insane when you consider the numbers Amari and Zeke and the rest of the team were producing during this stretch. So no, Lamb is not the 13th best fantasy WR. He's top-10 with a shot at top-6 if Dak dominates like I'm expecting. And Amari is priced about right, with a chance to crack the top 12 if he's at 100% Week 1. Meanwhile, Michael Gallup (WR-47) is probably a 50/750/4 guy in this offense, meaning he's priced about right.
The biggest question mark is at tight end, where Blake Jarwin (TE-23) is expected to be #1, while 2020 injury replacement Dalton Schultz (TE-29) will return to backup duties. I liked Schultz last year and believe, based on early-season production, he could have easily been a top-8 TE had Dak remained healthy (despite Dak's injury, Schultz still finished in the top 12). So I wouldn't be quick to pre-judge this depth chart yet. But whoever wins the job (and it's Jarwin's to lose) is a great bet to crush expectations.
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