Cowboys Fantasies
Posted: May 30, 2006 @ 7:53 pm
I’ve played fantasy ball on and off. Did well most years, but just haven’t had the manic time the game deserves recently.
That said, Dallas has some interesting offensive and defensive options this year.  Terrell Owens is a fantasy superstar, when he’s healthy. Julius Jones, on the other hand, defines a boom or bust player.
As we count down the days till minicamp, a question for all the fantasy players — which Cowboys would you select and in what rounds would you rate them?
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In a 12 team league with 16 rounds:
Owens - 2
Jones - 3
Witten - 6
Bledsoe - 6
Glenn - 7
Vanderjagt - 10
Dallas team defense - 11
Last year in a 10 player, 16 round draft I took Bledsoe in round 15 and he eventually became my starting QB over Vick and McNair. That said, I think Vanderjagt, Witten and the Dallas defense will be the Cowboys’ top fantasy performers.
My only problem with fantasy football - which I love - is that it makes you root for individual players over teams. Moreover, it’s hard to root for a player on a division rival. For example, last year I got Santanna Moss in the 8th round and he was one of the top WRs in the league. But it was really hard to root for him to do well (and my fantasy team) while hating the redskins. that’s the tough part
Whoa! Saw something that blew my mind away! Craig Heyward’s son, Cameron, apparently stands at 6-7 and 280 pounds, I know that HS measurables are often pumped up, but how much could they be? 2 inches? He would still be 6-5.
Obviously the thing that took my attention was that Craig was 5-11, did he married a jiraffe?
Oh, RIP Craig and Brodsky.
I cannot relate with the rounds very well. I am in a keeper league with a salary cap. I did pick up Bledsoe and Glenn for a buck in free agency last year and acquired the Dallas D during the bid draft for five dollars. TO was $80 last year but I won’t pay that mcuh this year even if he is a cowboy. I got Witten for $16-overpaid for his production.
I have to admit that I’m one of the millions of sad fantasy football adicts. I’m normally in 3 or 4 leagues per year, which isn’t as hard as it sounds since you’re keeping up with all players for 1 anyway. This will be my 7th year playing and I have made out quite well the last 4 years, finishing in the top four of every league each year and winning at least 1 per year. It’s hard to say what round each player should go in because it depends on the number of teams in the draft. In a 10 team league, my choices would be
Owens: late round 2 or round 3
Hard to say a solid 2nd rounder for him as you really don’t know how many red zone TDs Witten and Fasano may take from him. Long bombs can go to Glenn too depending on coverage. Plus with the small potential of a meltdown, a 2nd would be a risk.
JJ: rounds 2 - 4
This is a tough one because no one really knows how many touches MBIII will take and if he will be the goal line back. If he is the goal line back (vulture back in FF speak), JJ loses a lot of value. The 2nd through 4th round grade depends on what happens in TC.
Bledsoe: round 5
IF the line stays healthy, he could be a top 3 fantasy QB this year. He has a huge arsonel of weapons in the passing game. Before flow went down last year, he was the #1 QB in several scoring formats and was averaging 277 yards per game, almost 2TDs and less than 1 INT. Over 16 games that translates to over 4400 yards, 30 TDs, 10 INTs. Remember, that’s with a healthy line and no TO. Look what TO did for McNabb’s stats….
Witten: round 7 - 8
He’ll go higher than this in most leagues, but he’s my bust player this year unless Owens is injured. With the additions of TO and Fasano, there just won’t be the same amount of catches, yards and TDs he’s seen in the past. He’ll be a solid TE, but there are many TEs in the league that I’d take over him (for a fantasy team).
Cowboys D: rounds 9 - 11
I think this unit could be top 5 fantasy D and would be a steal at any point past 9.
Glenn: rounds 10 - 14
He could be a steal, but he could also be a bust with all the other weapons. I think he’ll have huge weeks and weeks with 1 or 2 catches and that is not someone you want starting. He’d be a top filler during bye weeks.
Barber: rounds 12 - 16
Barber will produce some fantasy points and would be a great player to have as JJ insurance. He’d also be a valuable trading tool for someone who drafted JJ if you didn’t get him.
Fasano: last round or FA
Obviously we have no idea how he will fit into the plan, but I’m sure no one would pick him up. If you draft Witten, Fasano would be a great handcuff in case (God forbid) Witten goes down.
I am also a fantasy geek. I took JJ in the second round last year (I took Jamal Lewis in the first..ugh!) and I think I jinxed him. I promise you guys that I’ll leave all Cowboys alone this year.
Maybe I’ll take all Skins, Giants, and Eagles this year and guarantee us a division title.
I had all the Dallas skill positions, their original kicker plus Roethlisberger and the Dallas Defense…used Roethlisberger twice, lost my kicker and used the Dallas D all year, wound up number eight out of 12 team league….fantasy football requires too much time to do it right……..
TO - 2nd
JJ - 2-3
Witten - 6
Glenn - 7-8
Bledsoe - 4-5
Vandy - late round (he’s a kicker!)
Def - 11-12
synergy, are you kidding, a 10minute look at your lineup and thier matchups is all it takes.
1)TO bottom 2, top 3
2)JJ third or fourth
3)Bledsoe, 6-8
4)witten and Glenn between 7-9
5)kickers and defense are second to last and last round picks always.
I have never delved into fantasy football.. It seems to me you have to unusual emotional biased to cheer for players or teams other than Cowboys! I have a hard time doing that and frankly don’t understand how any fan can be unbiased enough to do so… I realize it is exciting to compete against others.. But where do you draw the line between your loyalty and love for Cowboys and everyone else?
P.S. This just my opinion… It is not meant to offend anyone.
Sorry, I missed one word in previous post…
I have never delved into fantasy football.. It seems to me you have to invest unusual emotional biased to cheer for players or teams other than Cowboys! I have a hard time doing that and frankly don’t understand how any fan can be unbiased enough to do so… I realize it is exciting to compete against others.. But where do you draw the line between your loyalty and love for Cowboys and everyone else?
P.S. This just my opinion… It is not meant to offend anyone.
Hope this isn’t the sign of things to come: E. J. Whitley is out for the year with a torn ACL.
OH no! We were couonting on him…oh wait- no we weren’t. I like the spin JJ put on it tel;ling him this gives him a whole year to learn the system. Do they actually sign this guy and he goes on some kind of IR?
Toast,
That’s a valid point. I try not to start one of my fantasy guys against the boys. If I have to do so, I have to hope my guy gets a few points, but doesn’t run wild. It makes for a bittersweet weekend either way.
kalen thornton cut
Yeah i just saw Thornton was cut to make room for Demetris Summers. I liked Thornton and I even thought he had a good shot at getting a spot last year but I really doubted he would make it out of this years camp anways.
He definately wasn’t going anywhere with that knee still bothering him.
thornton cut - an actual piece of NEWS!!!!
im excited to see Summers signed. I think this kid will make the team, if he keeps his head on straight and works hard.
Thornton’s out huh? Chalk one up for Chandus. Good call by him.
hey guys. wuts up.
i was reading in the previous thread about demetrius summers. it intriuges me also. if this kid shows the talent his high school rep carries with him, and he can really play, then i would think he has a solid chance to unseat TT.
So JJ is the special gamebreaking feature-back(hopefully), MBIII is the reliable back up/utility guy, and what does TT do, get a couple of carries here and there. but he also returns kicks mainly.
so im thinkin, if summers flashes the talent his rep carries, he can takes TT’s spot. because the fact that all TT does is return kicks, makes him expendable, because we picked up “return man extraordinare” Skyler Green. and who knows, maybe summers too can also return kicks, even tho he prolly dont have the lightning quick speed like TT.
idk maybe a possibility to watch for as TC unfolds. what do you guys think??
I read that Dallas gave Whitley a split contract. What is that? does it mean he will get paid half his original contract to stay on IR? If so, why not just releise him and save some cap money?
Summers adds another good position battle to keep track of during TC. Others I look forward to seeing are:
Of course FS and who starts the first preseason game will be very interesting
Backup QB
SOLB
And 3rd & 4th string WR
There will be good competition going on at other positions, but these are the ones that I think we’ll see a real battle over. Did I miss any?
Blitzkrieg:
I’m not glad…. I would have been glad had he made the team shutting my mouth along the way…. I guess that you can’t have a Bradie James every year…. (For the new guys, last year I didn’t put James in my 53 man roster).
Slide:
NT.
Slide:
LG, RT, & nickel corner. Hopefully, center. Nickel LB. The last DE spot. This is the first year in a long while that there should be real competition just to make the team at a lot of positions. Some former starters are likely to get cut.
swirvin and SDCOWBOYFAN,
None of the draft picks are under contract. In order for them to participate in the mini-camps, they have to sign a waiver. If the player suffers a serious injury, this waiver binds the team to bargain in good faith, so they must offer him a reasonable contract, in spite of the fact the player will be unable to perform in the current year. Most rookies (drafted or undrafted) sign ’split’ contracts, which state that if the rookie goes on IR in that first year, he gets a lesser amount than if he would have played out the year. This protects the team from tying up its cap space on injured players, who probably wouldn’t even make the team. Most of our undrafted rookies signed split contracts for the first TWO years, where they would get $180,000 (first year) instead of $275,000, and $205,000 (second year) instead of $360,000. Since there is ample precedence, Whitley will probably sign such a contract. Obviously, $180,000 is a lot less than $275,000, but it is a lot more than he would have made on the practice squad (around $5,000 per week), where he was probably headed. Whitley will also get a reasonable signing bonus for his draft slot.
So, Whitley will get paid $180,000 (plus his bonus) to rehab his knee for the rest of the year. With any luck at all, he should be fully recovered by the time workouts begin in 2007. Since one of his negatives was a lack of strength, this probably is not that bad a deal for him.
No fantasy football for me this year. I just can’t find the time anymore. When I was working I could always find time for FF on the job. Now I’m retired and MY-TIME is too damn valuable.
Mr. Bill,
Excellent analysis. I for one didn’t think he’d make the roster anyway. It will actually be a really good deal for him.
Bad Religion,
I don’t agree with you on TT. Yes, skyler green will be on the Kick return team too but TT had an outstanding year there last year and kick off returns is not Greens best talent(punt returns are). IMO, you need straight ahead fast guys on kick returns and quick shifty guys on punt returns. TT will have a place on this team. Summers will be on the practice squad.
J-Man
why would the team cut Thorton to add a player to the PS?
TT is in trouble and he needs a disciplined camp to stick.
TT on Kick offs can be replaced by a Fourth WR who would have better hands.
IF Summers shows them somethgin isn’t it more likely that someone like Kincade or one of our 15 TE’s would be on the practice squad?
I agree with Alan, TT is in trouble.
He was given a shot last year and did not take advantage. He better learn his blocking assignments, hang on to the ball and hit the right hole for a change or he will not survive training camp IMO.
Thornton was/is hurt.
He failed his physical. And Summers was signed because they like his skills. The boy has talent.
I am not sure TT is in trouble. As a 3rd RB, he needs a good camp. thats a given for a 3rd RB. But how can you annoint a free agent RB with a bad character history.
Alan: the cutting of Kalen and signing of summers are not related. they had space to sign summers w/o cutting kalen. The odds for kalen were long and he isn’t fully recovered enough to even participate in this weekend’s practices.
TT was tied for 9th in the nfl for kickoff returns (strangely quincy morgan was 8th but i won’t go there). TT also gives the offense a different RB dimension-speed. Summers style is more in line with julius and marion. With that being said, who the heck knows what will happen. he is a 3rd stringer. I still expect summers, who up until today could have signed with anyone(but no one seemed to be knocking) will find himself on the PS.
swirvin,
kencade was on the PS last year and IMO will be gone this year. At the very minimum, Summers takes his place on the PS.
Does anyone know when this camp starts? Reporting to camp, first practice…etc. I am dying for information.
Camp starts this weekend. Full squad, but little pad action, mainly get together, show them what to work on etc, etc. Still news worthy for this time of the year and should get some more tidbits coming out of it.
We will also get to see who is going into BP’s doghouse and who he thinks has some potential. Can’t wait.
Sorry, camp is not what starts, it is mini camp. My fingers were going too fast.
ShaneJ,
thanks for answering my poorly written question. What i meant to ask was when this weekend. do they report today with tomorrow being 1st workout or report tomorrow with Sat being first workout…etc. I know BPs first media session is Friday at 5:30 edt.
hear this from me, parcells is not dumb, and Tyson Thompson will not be cut. he plays the feild position game guys. and TT gives him just that. his average was better than any other cowboy KR in the teams history, and were were 9th in the league. parcells doesnt give that up for anything, not with the style of ball he coaches.then you have thompsons speed out of the back feild, that gives us an abnormal direction to go to if we choose to turn to it. the man averaged more per carry than our first and second string backs did. the man has played 3 years of college football, one year of D1, c’mon guys give him a chance, the only thing he really lacks is his blocking assigments. and a year with parcells should straighten that out. honeslty i wouldnt even mind seein TT as a WR, pair him up with glenn every once in a while. there is a place on this team for tyson thompson. he is a very good runningback and kick returner, and speed like his CAN NOT be coached.
Casual1031,
Can’t argue with your logic and tend to agree with you. I don’t talk for the others here but my interest is in the way they (homesite) keep talking about him. He just seems to keep popping up in different areas without much fanfare. This seems to be a crumb that won’t go away. If we were getting much info, this may not even be a blip on the screen. Maybe it is just the time of year, I don’t know. It just seems there maybe something they know that we don’t type of thing going on.
If summers is still a major topic after this weekend, then we may have something to talk about. but man, is the news slow at this time of the year!!! At any moment, i am expecting an inverview on DC.com from the actual janitor telling us how the new rookie class is going to be great b/c they are tearing up the turf. He will know this by the extra amount of dirt he is cleaning up from the locker room floor. Gee, am i frustrated by the lack of news or what!
Keeping TT just because of speed is not going to happen. We may keep him, but it will be because he can block, find holes and catch the ball. If he cannot do these things, his speed is mute.
BTW, I understand Summers has 4.4 speed. Don’t know if he can play, but that is not speed.
Sorry, should read “that is not bad speed”.
rha, no we wont keep him on speed alone. but as i said he can make plays happen, he averaged more per carry than MB3 and JJ last season.. and he got very few chances to shine. i read someone say he never made the most of his chances, but in all honest i think the man made plenty of his chances. everytime he touched the ball he threatened a score. i admitt, he has blocking assignments he must take careof first and for most. but he will not be cut. nor will he be thrown to the wolves and never see a carry. he will get minimal touches again this season, and be there on the return game. i love having summers. at one point in time this guy was considerd a first or second round talent (wasent he on the cover of NCAA football 2005)?????? anyways, great problem to have and i hope parcells keeps throwing us all these “good” problems.
alanTdot,
Thornton was cut because he had not recovered from his surgery and could not practice yet. A practice-squad player, or even a camp body, is better than someone who can’t get on the field at all.
The reality is that neither Thompson nor Summers is assured of anything. Summers is just this year’s version of Thompson, ReShard Lee, Aveion Cason, Woody Dantzler, Tony Taylor, John Avery, Tarik Smith, Beau Morgan, Denvis Manns, etc. Every one of them showed some skills, but was never able to break through to be a consistent contributor. Maybe Summers will be different, but he (and Thompson, for that matter) is a long shot to become more than a borderline player, forever on the bubble, until discarded for next year’s phenom.
We kept Randall Williams because of speed for what might be considered too long. Simply because we were enamored with his potential upside. He is now playing tight end for another team. If that guy could ever get it together watch out. TT may be one of those guys for a time. This might be his year to make a splash. His returns and speed will keep him around more than likely, but I don’t know that he will be able to stay forever simply on that alone.
I agree with J-Man above, if he (Summers) is still in the news after this weekend we got something to argue about for a little while.
We are putting TT on the bubble simply because of where Summers plays, but there could be some movement in other places ie. special teams, receivers.
mr bill, i just dont think TT has been given enough chance to shine. when the man has been put in the game he has produced, hands down, i dont think anyone will dispute that. we will just have to see what an offseason of play books film, and weights have doen to him. hopefully he picks up his blocking game, if he does, then i dont care whos starting in our back feild, mb3, jj or tt, cuz to be honest with you i think mb3 could be a starter on another team, and i think TT has potential (BLOCKIGN GAME CONSIDERED) to be a VERY special player.
shane j agreed, about your randall willaims theory and im hoping we are keeping thompson around cuz he WILL eventually turn the corner into a very good player.
Isn’t this a great ‘arguement’ to have. Instead of worrying about who the starters are going to be (for the most part) we are worrying about someone who appears to have talent potentially not even making the team. As already said above, what a great problem to have.
I am also interested to see what happens with Crayton during camp. We have pretty much already covered the free safety position. Crayton, whether he comes back in pre-injury form, or post injury form. I have a feeling we may have to rely on a third receiver more than we want to. Could be from Glenn injury or a Witten/Fasano injury that messes with our 2-te set.
Casual:
One minor correction to post # 39 above. TT set the team record for kickoff return YARDAGE last year. He fell well below the 30 yards per return posted by hall of famer Mel Renfro in 1965.
I agree with you about TT, though.
thank you for the correction doomsday, lol. need to re read before i post
Casual
Like I said, though, the rest of your post was rght on.
IMO, TT is a very servicable return man, and he had a few momentum-changing returns last year. Unfortunately, he also had a couple of fumbles last year, not including two that were ruled nonfumbles by instant replay. Nonetheless, he will make the team unless he makes no progress from last year or unless Summers is better than expected in camp. TT showed too much last year as a potential game-breaker to let him go. Summers may be a practice squad player, with a year to prove himself while TT gets a year to do the same for his roster spot.
Hopefully, don’t have to return too many kickoffs due to the defense stonewalling the opposition.
shane, im gonan have to agree with you. i would like one kick off per game.. ya know either to start the game or the second half.
Man, we need some news. This is ridiculous.
Normally June 1st was somewhat an interesting day due to cuts. Due to the new agreement most of those already happened. I haven’t even heard a peep about any June cuts yet.
I am up in Amarillo, TX we don’t get news period except through the net, I’m starvin.
I was a fan of Thompson last year. Local boy made good and all that.
However, he was a liability on the field. BP said so. He fumbled entirely too much, couldn’t block, and his returns were average at best. I don’t think he showed that instinctive “wiggle” that can’t be coached.
Also, Summers has equal speed, is bigger, and comes from a major college program, not San Jose State.
But it really is a crappy argument, worrying about the third back and kickoff returner.
I could see four RBs being kept if one beats out Polite for ST and lead blocking is capably filled by TEs or MBIII.
Mr Bill,
ReShard Lee, Aveion Cason, Woody Dantzler, Beau Morgan! Ah the sweet, sweet memories!!
I think BParcells has said that you can never have too many running backs, but I don’t think he trusts TT with the position in a regular season game…..yet.
Fighter15:
i think polite is already gone. I expect to see us carry one more TE this year than we did last year effectively taking polites roster spot. Heck, he wasn’t active for all that many games anyway.
Not much into the Fantasy thing other than women, but here is a link on what some of the odds makers think of Big D.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/peter_king/05/28/mmqb/index.html
Someone mentioned Summers had 4.4 speed too when comparing him to TT. ESPN has him at 4.64 speed.
i was kinda waiting until the next post to mention this..(iam not much of a fantasy guy either) but i was just taking a look at our rival in the nfc east ..and “on paper” as much as i hate to say it but Philly looks like they have the best d-line in our division with Kearse being in the shape that he’s in…i really hope that our line will be capable enough to handle these guys this year
TT really did not show much- I totally disagree about his so-called production. remember- HAMBONE had a great YPC before he became the starter. Summers does not have great speed- he is not a 4.4 back. TT has great speed but no wiggle and needs to work HARD on his fundamentals. Really I do not see much to be excited about with either of them.
mike:
Kearse? He was manhandled by last years Petitti! Petitti’s expected to be physically better next year, so I can’t see him owning Petitti, nor Fabini.
I’ll give you Patterson, if he isn’t playing 100% of the snaps, last season he played too much and wasn’t a factor late in games.
Howard? If he stays healthy, he’s a huge upgrade for the Eagles pass rush. If we get Flo back for 16 games, Howard won’t be an upgrade in the games against each other.
And Bunkley is a rookie, I expect production from him in his first year, but not something that would deserve a lot of attention.
burmafrd:
Larry Johnson doesn’t has a lot of wiggle, too. He has great speed and power and that compensates his lack of wiggle.
Could TT become a player that could use a combination of speed and power to be successful, we won’t know until he proves to be capable of holding the ball in his arms and of picking up the blitz. Does he has the potential? I would have to say yes.
Johnson has done it- TT has not. I really cannot see in TT what Johnson has showed.
Yeah, but for whatever reason, Johnson also took his time to do so.
Thompson has something that can’t be coached.
On the other hand, if he doesn’t start getting some of the things that CAN be coached, he won’t be getting coached in Dallas much longer. It’s all on him.
casual1031,
Do not assume from my post that I have given up on Tyson Thomspon. On the contrary. I was just pointing out that the odds are still long on Thompson (or Summers) ever amounting to anything more than a deep reserve and a special-teams player. However, we have every right to hope. As fans, that’s what we do.
Coming out of college, Priest Holmes didn’t have any better credentials than any of the players I mentioned. It’s just that a Priest Holmes doesn’t show up on your doorstep all that often. We can hope for another Priest Holmes, but we’re more likely to get another Beau Morgan.
I guess I am recommending ‘hope with discipline’ … whatever that means.