NFL FANTASY FOOTBALL
 Dallas Cowboys - Priority News
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| Felix Jones - RB |
Posted 11/20/09 1:11pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News reports Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said he would like to see RB Felix Jones get more touches because he believes Jones would be a big-time producer with more opportunities. |
The Huddle's Take: More touches would further muddle an already crowded Cowboy backfield from a Fantasy perspective. More importantly, however, Felix Jones doesn't seem to have the burst he possessed before being hurt against Carolina. That may be part of the reason that, when Jones is on the field, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett seems to call an inordinate amount of inside runs. It would seem Jones would be most effective running outside, but perhaps he's too limited to be able to do so. A lot of Cowboy fans will tell you neither Jones nor Marion Barber is the best Cowboy running back. They'll tell you Tashard Choice is Dallas' best option. And based on Jones' and Barber's production the last few games, it would be hard to argue.
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| Marc Colombo - OT |
Posted 11/16/09 4:00pm et |
| ESPNDallas.com reports Dallas Cowboys OT Marc Colombo (ankle, fibula) will undergo surgery to fix ligaments on his left ankle Monday, Nov. 16, after suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 10. He also has a fracture on his fibula near his left knee that will not require surgery. The recovery time for his fibula injury is six weeks. General manager Jerry Jones has said that Colombo will miss the rest of the year. |
The Huddle's Take: If Colombo's absence has the same affect on the Cowboy offense that Kyle Kosier's did last season, Dallas' Fantasy production will suffer greatly.
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| Ken Hamlin - S |
Posted 11/16/09 4:58pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News reports Dallas Cowboys FS Ken Hamlin (ankle) could miss two to four weeks with a high ankle sprain. |
The Huddle's Take: Not that you'd consider it unless you were in a deep league and truly desperate, but Hamlin's absence will weaken the Cowboy secondary and could help Washington's Jason Campbell put up good numbers in Week 11.
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| Marion Barber - RB |
Posted 11/16/09 4:59pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News reports Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber III (thumb) was bothered by his fractured thumb in the second half of the game in Week 10. |
The Huddle's Take: Barber's dealt with thumb and quad problems most of the season, and it's showed in his lack of production. Tashard Choice could get more carries this week against Washington if Barber doesn't show significant improvement in practice.
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| Jason Witten - TE |
Posted 11/14/09 11:56am et |
| The Dallas Morning News report Dallas Cowboys TE Jason Witten is averaging just 8.9 yards per reception this season despite leading the team with 44 catches. Witten's longest reception is 22 yards. Witten also has been targeted 13 times on third down and has converted 13 first downs. 'I feel like we're not getting those plays down the field as much for whatever reason,' Witten said. 'I don't think there's one thing that you can look at and say that's what's triggering it, but a lot of it is underneath (passes).' |
The Huddle's Take: Not only is the lack of down field production cutting into Witten's fantasy value, he's not finding the end zone either in 2009. Of the top 10 fantasy tight ends he's the only one with just a single touchdown.
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| Felix Jones - RB |
Posted 11/13/09 1:04pm et |
| DallasCowboys.com reports Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said RB Felix Jones will get more offensive touches as he gets healthier. Jones would see less time as a kick returner if his offensive touches go up. |
The Huddle's Take: Jones' performance has been too spotty lately to recommend him as a Fantasy starter, but that could change starting next week if the speedster takes advantage of his increased touches in Week 10 against Green Bay.
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| Felix Jones - RB |
Posted 11/13/09 11:52pm et |
| DallasCowboys.com, reports Dallas Cowboys RB Felix Jones (knee) said he will continue to wear a protective knee brace Week 10. Jones said, "The brace is there to 'protect and serve' me. I feel like it's getting better. It's always getting better. The knee is feeling a lot better when I run. Even though it doesn't really hurt, just the power that I get back." The team has noticed improvement in Jones, which is why head coach Wade Phillips said he would like to get Jones more offensive touches. |
The Huddle's Take: Fantasy owners should not expect Jones to get very many carries in Week 10 even if he gets back on the field. Marion Barber and Tashard Choice are both running well so Jones is likely to be the odd man out as the Cowboys work him back into the offense. Jones has a lot of potential but continues to battle injury problems which keeps the talented runner from contributing to the Dallas offense like fantasy owners visioned early in the season.
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| Marion Barber - RB |
Posted 11/12/09 11:39pm et |
| Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber III (thumb) practiced in full Thursday, Nov. 12. |
The Huddle's Take: Barber appears to be almost fully recovered from his thumb injury and is expected to start once again in Week 10. Dallas' offense has been clicking of late and should continue to utilize all three running backs (Barber, Choice and Jones) in special situations for each runner.
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| Miles Austin - WR |
Posted 11/10/09 2:22pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News,reports Dallas Cowboys WR Miles Austin drew double coverage for the first time this season against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9. 'Miles only had the one catch, but he really was open quite a bit,' head coach Wade Phillips said. 'They jammed him at the line. They doubled him some, which we hadn't seen. A lot of times he was open, but it wasn't the read Tony had.' |
The Huddle's Take: He had his most meager showing of his last four games and still managed to snag a 49-yard touchdown pass to swing the game into Dallas' favor. More teams will employ the double coverage tactic on Austin going forward in all likelihood. If they do, that will obviously open up more space for Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton. The biggest beneficiary, however, could be Jason Witten, who has been basically a non-factor from a Fantasy perspective all season. If you have Witten, however, there's a very good chance you'll be getting strong production from him as long as Austin and the rest of the Dallas WR corps remains healthy and effective.
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| Marion Barber - RB |
Posted 11/7/09 6:10pm et |
| Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber III (thumb) participated in practice Friday, Nov. 6. He is listed as probable for Week 9 and will be able to play. |
The Huddle's Take: Wasn't much of a doubt but it does appear as though Barber is a go for this week.
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| Marion Barber - RB |
Posted 11/5/09 11:13am et |
| Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber III practiced in full Wednesday, Nov. 4. |
The Huddle's Take: Barber's thumb injury appears to be a non-issue, so he'll be the lead dog in the Cowboys' stable of backs.
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| Tony Romo - QB |
Posted 11/5/09 3:05pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News reports Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo and WR Roy Williams worked on some things after practice Wednesday, Nov. 4, to try and improve their on-field chemistry. Williams said the two will continue to work after practice until they produce more during games. |
The Huddle's Take: From what we've seen so far, they're going to need a lot of that work. Don't look for Williams and Romo to magically generate that chemistry after a few days of trying extra hard after practice. Williams needs to stay on your bench until he shows a pulse.
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| Patrick Crayton - WR |
Posted 11/3/09 11:54pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News reports Dallas Cowboys WR Patrick Crayton will try to set history Week 9. Crayton has returned a punt for a touchdown in each of the last two games. No professional player has ever returned a punt for a touchdown in three consecutive games, according to Elias Sports Bureau. |
The Huddle's Take: It seems as though being demoted and given the primary responsibility of being a return man as opposed to a primary receiver has allowed Crayton to focus. He's been a one man wrecking crew on special teams, and it is hard to imagine benching him at the moment, even though his offensive output has been nil. Many eyes will be watching to see if he can pull it off!
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| Tony Romo - QB |
Posted 10/31/09 11:25pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News, reports Dallas Cowboys WR Miles Austin has been targeted 23 times by QB Tony Romo in the team's last two games. |
The Huddle's Take: The emergence of Austin in the passing game has gone a long way to helping Romo break out of his slump the last two games. With Austin and Romo on the same page and developing more chemistry, fantasy owners should expect Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton to both see less action as long as Austin remains on the field.
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| Jay Ratliff - DT |
Posted 10/30/09 3:39pm et |
| DallasCowboys.com reports Dallas Cowboys DT Jay Ratliff (knee) suffered a knee injury during practice Thursday, Oct. 29, and did not practice Friday, Oct. 30. He is listed as questionable for Week 8. |
The Huddle's Take: If Ratliff is out, this would be a huge blow to the Cowboy defense, from both a run defense and pass rush perspective.
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| Marion Barber - RB |
Posted 10/30/09 10:30pm et |
| Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber III (thumb) fully participated in practice Friday, Oct. 30. He is listed as probable for Week 8 and is expected to play. |
The Huddle's Take: Dallas continues to utilize a three-headed monster in its backfield with the likes of Marion Barber, Tashard Choice and Felix Jones. Barber is officially the starter and the power back for the team but Choice and Jones both see consistent carries and playing time which makes it hard to count on any Dallas running back for huge fantasy points this season.
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| Allen Rossum - CB |
Posted 10/28/09 11:51pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News, reports Dallas Cowboys CB Allen Rossum (hamstring) will miss two to four weeks with a hamstring injury, according to head coach Wade Phillips. WR Patrick Crayton will take over the punt-return duties and RB Felix Jones will handle kickoffs. WR Kevin Ogletree could be another option. |
The Huddle's Take: Certainly not what the Cowboys wanted to hear as they will now be without a tremendous weapon on their special teams unit in Rossum. This will certainly have an negative impact on the Dallas defense/special teams unit for fantasy teams that utilize them.
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| Miles Austin - WR |
Posted 10/26/09 12:27pm et |
| Charean Williams, of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports Dallas Cowboys WR Miles Austin set the franchise record for most receiving yards in consecutive games Week 7. Austin topped the 42-year-old record held by former WR Lance Rentzel, who had 368 receiving yards in back-to-back games. Austin has 421 receiving yards in consecutive games. |
The Huddle's Take: Austin is rewriting the Cowboy record books, erasing storied names like Rentzel and Bob Hayes. He's certainly stepped up his game to replace Terrell Owens as the Cowboys' deep threat and is well on his way to usurping Roy Williams as the No. 1 receiver in Dallas—if he hasn't already.
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| Tashard Choice - RB |
Posted 10/26/09 12:27pm et |
| Todd Archer, of The Dallas Morning News, reports Cowboys RB Tashard Choice did not receive a carry in Week 7. It was the first time in his career that he did not have a carry. |
The Huddle's Take: This was the first time since Week 2 that Dallas has had all three backs healthy at the same time, but Choice received two carries in each of those previous games. It appears as though he's been bumped back to third in the Cowboys' backfield pecking order.
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| Miles Austin - WR |
Posted 10/25/09 10:33pm et |
| The Associated Press reports Dallas Cowboys WR Miles Austin caught six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns in Week 7. It was his second career start, starting in place of WR Patrick Crayton. |
The Huddle's Take: What can you say about Miles Austin but WOW. Austin has quickly emerged as the go to receiver for Dallas and has posted back to back huge games the last two weeks. Roy Williams even returned to action in Week 7 and did very little compared to Austin who is playing at a very high level for the Cowboys. Austin is a solid No. 2 wideout option with tremendous upside for the second half of the year.
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| Tony Romo - QB |
Posted 10/25/09 10:33pm et |
| The Associated Press reports Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo went 21-for-29 for 331 yards and three touchdowns in Week 7. |
The Huddle's Take: Romo posted a solid outing against the Falcons and showed why he has been the starting quarterback of the Cowboys for the last few seasons. It is hard to imagine Romo not performing well from time to time but look out if he continues to look like this and developing a nice chemistry with Miles Austin in this offense could pay huge dividends in the future.
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| Tony Romo - QB |
Posted 10/23/09 1:46pm et |
| DallasCowboys.com reports the Dallas Cowboys offense ranks 21st in touchdown conversion in the red zone this season, but QB Tony Romo does not think anything should be changed because the players just need to execute better. 'I think you just have to stay the course. The reality of it is we had some plays to be made. Myself, different personnel, different people. We just have to make a play, whether we hold up a block a little longer, or I throw it a little bit better. Someone catches it with a couple of people around there. That's part of executing. We've worked at doing that this last week and a half. Hopefully that will show this week,' Romo said. |
The Huddle's Take: Jason Witten's absence in the red zone has been conspicuous. Don't be surprised if the Cowboys target him much more often going forward. That is, if they don't need him to stay on the line to help block. That's the main reason he hasn't been putting up the numbers many expected.
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| Felix Jones - RB |
Posted 10/23/09 7:21pm et |
| Dallas Cowboys RB Felix Jones (knee) fully participated in practice Friday, Oct. 23. He is listed as probable for Week 7 and is expected to play. |
The Huddle's Take: Hopefully, Jones can last an entire game before he gets hurt again. Assuming he stays healthy, it's anybody's guess who would be the best Fantasy option between Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice. If you have other Fantasy options this week, it may be best to avoid the Cowboy backfield.
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| Martellus Bennett - TE |
Posted 10/22/09 10:24am et |
| Calvin Watkins, of ESPNDallas.com, reports the Cincinnati Bengals made an offer to the Dallas Cowboys for TE Martellus Bennett before the trade deadline, a source told ESPN's Chris Mortensen. The source would not comment on any of the other details of the proposed deal. |
The Huddle's Take: In past years the Bengals haven't had much use for the tight end position, but that plan seemed to change heading into the 2009 season. Unfortunately for the Bengals, they were hit with a rash of injuries that left them short-handed at the position. Bennett would have given Cincy a pass-catching option who would also have been at least a serviceable blocker, but obviously the Cowboys have plans for him and weren't willing to part with him.
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| Miles Austin - WR |
Posted 10/22/09 12:47pm et |
| ESPNDallas.com reports Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips acknowledged that WR Miles Austin will start in Week 7. |
The Huddle's Take: Much to the chagrin of Patrick Crayton, Austin is now the No. 2 Cowboy receiver. Dallas plays the Falcons, who lost starting cornerback Brian Williams for the season last Sunday, so there may be an opportunity for Austin to put up good numbers.
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| Felix Jones - RB |
Posted 10/22/09 10:32pm et |
| Dallas Cowboys RB Felix Jones (knee) practiced in full Thursday, Oct. 22, and he is expected to play Week 7. |
The Huddle's Take: Felix Jones appears ready to return to the lineup for Dallas in Week 7 but should still be limited on the number of carries he is given. Jones provides the home run threat to take the ball to the house everytime he touches it but will have to share carries with Tashard Choice and Marion Barber for the Cowboys. Fantasy owners should consider him no better than a No. 3 running back at the present time.
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| Marion Barber - RB |
Posted 10/21/09 10:53pm et |
| The Dallas Morning News, reports Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber III (thumb) suffered a fractured left thumb during the team's Week 6 game. Head coach Wade Phillips said Barber would start the team's Week 7 game. Barber was able to take part in practice Wednesday, Oct. 21. |
The Huddle's Take: The injury does not appear serious but could cause some problems for Barber as he carries the ball. Fantasy owners should expect Tashard Choice and possibly Felix Jones to also get some carries which makes it hard to expect any of the Dallas runners to post big numbers in Week 7.
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| Felix Jones - RB |
Posted 10/21/09 11:51pm et |
| ESPNDallas.com, reports Dallas Cowboys RB Felix Jones (knee) wore a knee brace in practice Wednesday, Oct. 21, and might wear one in Week 7 for the first time. |
The Huddle's Take: Jones continues to have some troubles with his knee but appears ready to re-enter the lineup in Week 7 on a limited basis. He will likely just see a small role in the offense as the Cowboys will probably ease him back in the lineup as he shares carries with Marion Barber and Tashard Choice.
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| Marion Barber - RB |
Posted 10/20/09 12:50pm et |
| ESPNDallas.com reports Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday, Oct. 20, during his weekly radio show that RB Tashard Choice will get more carries. RB Marion Barber III, however, will continue to start for the team. 'I can tell you Barber is going to be in better shape than he was last week or two weeks ago,' Jones said. 'But Tashard is certainly earned and going to get a big part of the load.' |
The Huddle's Take: The problem is Barber should be 100 percent and Felix Jones is back. So that "big part of the load" Jones refers to probably won't be big enough for Fantasy owners. Granted, Jones will likely get hurt again sooner or later, and Choice is good enough to put up strong numbers with 10 or 11 touches even with Jones and Barber playing. But it will be hard to rely on him doing so consistently for your Fantasy team.
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| Patrick Crayton - WR |
Posted 10/19/09 8:49pm et |
| The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports Dallas Cowboys WR Miles Austin replaced WR Patrick Crayton with the first-team offense in practice Monday, Oct. 19. Austin took the majority of the snaps with the first-team offense. |
The Huddle's Take: Reports out of Dallas are that Crayton has taken quite the dive in ability this year, in fact, some say it is the fastest downturn they've ever seen. How much truth there is in those reports is uncertain, but what is obvious is that Austin is moving up and Crayton is moving down - quickly.
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