Dak Prescott got paid! After years of negotiation and speculation, Prescott has finally been locked in by the Cowboys. Jerry Jones inked Prescott to a four-year, $160M deal with $126M guaranteed. His absence was noticed by the Cowboys last season, as the team averaged 31.8 PPG and was the top-ranked offense under Prescott. However, the offense and their fantasy weapons fell off a cliff after Prescott’s season ended due to a right ankle fracture.
To begin last season, Prescott and the Cowboys offense came out guns blazing. Before being injured in Week 5, Prescott was on pace for 5,936 yards, 29 TDs, and 13 INTs. For fantasy purposes, Prescott was averaging 27.9 PPR points per game. Pre-injury, Prescott routinely provided a rushing floor and already scored three touchdowns on the ground. At age 27, Prescott is still in his prime and, if reports are to believed, should return in 2021 with no limitations.
As for the rest of the offensive weapons, primarily Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and CeeDee Lamb, the splits with and without Prescott speak for themselves.
With Prescott/Without Prescott:
Elliott – 22.6 PPG (3rd) / 12.9 PPG (26th)
Cooper – 20.8 PPG (3rd) / 12.6 PPG (37th)
Lamb – 16.3 PPG (12th) / 12.2 PPG (38th)
Let’s revisit the 2021 Fantasy outlooks of these key studs with Dak Prescott in tow.
Ezekiel Elliott Updated 2021 Fantasy Outlook:
Elliott is the most maligned of the group and many believe he is already washed up. Given the plague of injuries that hit the Dallas Cowboys roster as a whole, including the offensive line, Elliott’s struggles were (mildly) forgivable (fucking asshole costing me a ship).
Still, through those first five games, Elliott was on pace for 1,165 rushing yards and 16 TDs, as well as 77 receptions on 106 targets for 554 yards and an additional three TDs. The threat of Prescott and his prolific passing last season kept Elliott from facing stacked boxes.
Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb Updated Fantasy Outlooks:
As for the key passing targets, Cooper and Lamb, their production with and without Prescott resembled a Jekyll and Hyde relationship.
Cooper was seeing 11 targets per game while Lamb was on pace for 7.8 targets per game. As for their fantasy finishes, Cooper’s PPG production dropped 39.4 percent while Lamb’s fell off 25.1 percent.
Cooper was on pace for 1,357 yards on 176 targets and three TDs while Lamb was on pace for 1,386 yards on 125 targets and six touchdowns.
All three of these Cowboys should see their fantasy stocks return close to normal with the return of Prescott.
Prescott has leaped up all the way from QB9 up to QB3 on The Wolf’s 2021 Fantasy Football Rankings, with the upside to tilt leagues in the midrounds should he be fully healthy. Meanwhile, Elliott received a modest bump to RB8 & OVR9 (previously RB10, OVR13), Cooper WR12, OVR29 (+14 v. ECR), and Lamb explodes up to WR19 (pre. WR32) on The Wolf’s 2021 Fantasy Football Rankings & Big Board.
