Fantasy football: Ezekiel Elliott is foolishly being overlooked - Eric Karabell, ESPN
Fantasy owners may want to keep an eye on Ezekiel Elliott for this season.
Elliott averaged 20 touches per game over the final six contests in 2023, finding the end zone three times. No, he did not look like the same player he once was, in his burst or ability to break tackles, but he remained a savvy player with a nose — and the body — for the end zone. A motivated Elliott proved he could catch passes and he has shown no decline in blocking ability, a prerequisite which should earn him ample snaps. Elliott remains a punishing player at 225 pounds. We can debate how many touches the Cowboys intend to provide him as they avoid clarity, especially as a pass-catcher, but you know he is getting the short-yardage plays and touchdowns.
This is why it seems like a mistake to overlook Elliott in fantasy. While he is among the older starting running backs in the sport and unlikely to recapture the fullness of past glory, he doesn’t need to be that same player statistically to greatly aid fantasy managers. Elliott needs snaps, and even though Rico Dowdle averaged 4.1 yards per carry backing up Pollard last season, he hardly looked fluid catching passes. Dowdle has struggled to stay healthy, and he is not as good as Pollard in the open field. The Cowboys focused on other positions in the draft and free agency. Perhaps Dowdle, Royce Freeman, Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis or Snoop Conner emerges as a third-down option to catch passes, but do not assume this. The Cowboys are open-minded, but the team knows Elliott can handle the workload, and he can’t wait to prove it.
Elliott showed he can for a dreadful Patriots offense last season, and the Cowboys are far from that. It would not be a reach to expect him to approach or surpass 1,000 rushing yards and double-digit touchdowns again, just as he did during the 2021 season. He scored 12 touchdowns in 2022, and he probably would’ve gotten to 1,000 rushing yards if he hadn’t missed a pair of midseason contests. Elliott was not the same player of his first several seasons in terms of efficiency, but volume counts for quite a bit, too. In this backfield, Elliott sure seems likely to get all the volume he can handle, and even if QB Dak Prescott attempts 600 passes, the offense is proficient enough to provide more than 250 touches — many in advantageous situations — to its lead running back.
2024 NFL running back unit rankings: Cowboys dead last - Trevor Sikkema, PFF.com
You may want to factor this into your fantasy decisions.
After letting Tony Pollard sign elsewhere in free agency, and missing out on the top backs in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Cowboys re-signed Ezekiel Elliott to be their lead rusher.
Elliott’s glory days came with the Cowboys, but his yards per carry average has dipped below 4.0 over the past two seasons, resulting in a career-low 69.2 PFF rushing grade in 2023. Behind him are Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn.
The Cowboys are using the UFL as a farming system for talent - Dustin Mosher, Sports Illustrated
Two previous UFL players join the Cowboys after former successful signings with KaVontae Turpin and Brandon Aubrey.
One of the Cowboys’ latest moves involves All-UFL linebacker Willie Harvey Jr., who recently signed with the team. Harvey, a standout linebacker for the St. Louis Battlehawks, brings toughness to Dallas. Despite being undersized for a linebacker, his football IQ and relentless pursuit of the ball set him apart from the other linebackers in the UFL.
In addition to Willie Harvey Jr., they recently signed cornerback Gareon Conley, who played for the DC Defenders in the UFL. Conley, a former first-round draft pick by the Raiders, will add depth to their cornerback room.
Dallas also brought in Birmingham Stallions defensive end Jonathan Garvin for a workout. Garvin was one of the best defensive players in all of the UFL and helped lead the Stallions to win the UFL championship. Also, Garvin was PFF’s 2nd highest-graded EDGE defender this season.
By tapping into the UFL and other spring football leagues, they not only strengthen their roster but also provide opportunities for deserving players. We will see if Willie Harvey Jr or Gareon Conley can become the next Kavontae Turpin or Brandon Aubrey for the Cowboys.
Why Cowboys’ search for UFL diamonds is a smart but incomplete strategy - David Helman, Foxsports.com
Plucking a Pro Bowler (KaVontae Turpin) and an All Pro (Brandon Aubrey) from the USFL is great, but is it enough?
In a vacuum, this is a great approach to team building. Who doesn’t want to take a few pulls at the slot machine and potentially hit it rich?
The issue, as we’ve discussed several times over, is that this feels more and more like the Cowboys’ only method of team building aside from the NFL Draft.
This is mainly just a reminder that the Cowboys’ typical methods — even the smart ones, haven’t been enough.
To be fair to them, the season is still a long way off. Plenty of meaningful additions can still be made before — or during — training camp. If the Cowboys are serious about improving on 2023, they should at least consider it.
Because as fun as it is to bet on the long shot, it’s hardly proven to be the most efficient strategy.
Cowboys assign numbers to Conley, Harvey Jr. - Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The two newest members of the Cowboys coming from the UFL now have their jersey numbers for the NFL.
Conley, a former first-round pick of the Raiders in 2017, entered the NFL on the heels of winning a national championship at Ohio State and earning honors as a Second-Team All-Big Ten talent.
Harvey’s path to this point has been a bit different, an undrafted free agent of the Cleveland Browns in 2019 who, like Conley, took this talents to the eventual UFL with the hopes of catching the eye of one of the 32 NFL clubs.
It worked for both of them, and as the ink dries and they begin preparing to head to Oxnard in late July, they’ve been formally assigned their jersey numbers in Dallas.
Willie Harvey, Jr. - 55
Gareon Conley - 43
Role Call: Justin Rogers’ mission in Dallas is clear - Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
Rookie DT Justin Rogers looks to battle in training camp for rotational reps this season.
How He Got Here: Life has come full circle in a way for Rogers, who was born and raised in the very city wherein he heard his name called on April 27 as the Cowboys’ seventh-round pick. Oh, and by the way, this is a very large human and the Cowboys got more strong value with this selection — Rogers having often been projected as a late sixth-round pick.
Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing in at a robust 330 lbs., Rogers has put on some weight to prepare for what comes next at the NFL level. He is definitively a nose tackle, and there is no mistaking that as the Cowboys plan to beef up the defensive interior around former first-round pick Mazi Smith and Osa Odighizuwa.
What’s Next: A three-year player for Kentucky, he earned the right to start full-time before eventually transferring to Auburn, remaining in the SEC where he went up against plenty of NFL-caliber talent. He’s everything you’d look for in a prototypical 1-tech (left of center), in that he has a very wide base, a strong core that isn’t moved easily and enormous hands that rank in the 97th (!!) percentile.
His biggest knock is one that’s acceptable, given his position, in that he’s not a pure athlete by any stretch of the imagination. Rogers is not going to jump out of any gym or run fast in a straight line but, to be frank, who cares? Expect him to work as a backup who’ll challenge Carl Davis in camp for the right to rotate in with Mazi Smith.
NFL coaches on shaky ground entering 2024 season: Ranking eight hot-seat candidates to watch - Cody Benjamin, CBSSports
No surprise here, McCarthy makes another offseaon hot-seat list.
Like his NFC East counterpart Nick Sirianni, McCarthy has big numbers on his resume — lots of regular-season wins, even a past Super Bowl nod — but only conditional backing from ownership. Jerry Jones has actually proven more patient than expected in Dallas, but not even three straight 12-win seasons have translated to a legitimate playoff run for McCarthy’s Cowboys, lending to Jones also putting pressure on longtime quarterback Dak Prescott. The offense has always hummed fairly well here, but with Dan Quinn no longer overseeing the playmaking defense, all eyes will be on McCarthy, who’s logged a single playoff win in his last six years as a head man.
2024 NFL offseason: Final moves for all 32 teams before camp - Aaron Schatz, ESPN
Biggest remaining move for the Cowboys?
Extend some combination of WR CeeDee Lamb, LB Micah Parsons and QB Dak Prescott
I’m not sure what the Cowboys are waiting for. The longer they wait to extend these important players, the more expensive those contracts become as other players (such as wide receiver Justin Jefferson) get paid and raise the bar at those positions. This isn’t the place to have a long debate about Prescott’s struggles in the postseason and whether he’s truly worth a top-money quarterback contract. But nobody out there is going to argue against the idea that Lamb and Parsons are at or near the top of their positions and deserve extensions. The Cowboys wouldn’t want to let these players leave. So get on it!
