2023 Stats

Points per game: 29.9 (1st)
Total yards per game: 371.6 (5th)
Plays per game: 66.0 (3rd)
Pass Attempts + Sacks per game: 38.5 (9th)
Dropback EPA per play: (0.23 (2nd)
Rush attempts per game: (27.5 (14th)
Rush EPA per play: -0.06 (11th)

Coaching Staff

After spending much of the 2023 offseason touting a more run-heavy approach than they had in 2022, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy took over play-calling duties and led an offense that ranked fourth in neutral pass rate (61 percent) and 13th in early down pass rate (53 percent). Their three percent pass rate over expected was also good for fourth-highest behind only the Chiefs, Bengals, and Commanders.

Despite criticizing former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for wanting to “light the scoreboard up,” McCarthy’s Cowboys led the league in points per game (29.9) last season and ranked fifth in yards per game (371.6). Reportedly set to go “all-in” to win in 2024, here’s how the Cowboys’ offense looks heading into this season.

Passing Game

QB: Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush
WR: CeeDee Lamb, KaVontae Turpin
WR: Brandin Cooks, Jalen Brooks
WR: Jalen Tolbert, Ryan Flournoy
TE: Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker

Fresh off a year in which he threw for 4,516-36-9, Dak Prescott is entering the final year of the four-year deal he signed in 2021. Despite Dak seemingly being interested in re-upping with the team under a new contract, owner Jerry Jones has been unwilling to commit to his star quarterback beyond this season. Prescott’s cap number for the season narrowly exceeds $55 million, which has proven to hamstring the team’s ability to add significant talent this offseason — more on that later.

Prescott finished second in MVP voting last season and was named a Second-team All-Pro for his efforts. His 36 touchdown passes led all quarterbacks and was second in both EPA per play (0.245) and EPA+CPOE composite (0.164) behind Brock Purdy. Prescott also finished in the top-10 in several other key metrics and was the overall QB5 in fantasy points per game.

Prescott did a good job at limiting turnovers after tying Josh Allen with 15 interceptions in 2022, helping to lead the Cowboys to a 12-5 record and an appearance in the NFC Divisional round.

Another player searching for a new deal is CeeDee Lamb, who is currently set to play out this season on a fifth-year club option worth $17.991 million. Lamb ran wild on the league last season, catching a league-high 135 passes on 181 targets — also tops in the league — while finishing second in receiving yards (1,749) and touchdowns (12). Amongst receivers who saw 50 or more targets, Lamb also ranked fourth in TPRR (0.30) and team target share (29.2 percent) and was the first read on 145 of his targets per FantasyPoints.com — which ranked third highest.

An elite receiving option in every sense of the word, the Cowboys did not add a player of note who should threaten Lamb for targets in 2024. He remains a high-end option at receiver across all formats and has the profile to finish as the overall WR1 in fantasy this season.

Third-year tight end Jake Ferguson is arguably Lamb’s biggest threat, but the two co-existed nicely last season. In his first full season as a starter, Ferguson broke out for 71-761-5 and ran a route on 72.5 percent of the Cowboys’ dropbacks — good for 10th best amongst tight ends. There are some concerns that come with Ferguson this season, namely his 0.20 TPRR and 15.8 percent target share. Both numbers ranked outside the top-10 at the tight end position last season, with his TPRR ranking 15th alongside Dallas Goedert, Jonnu Smith, and Kyle Pitts. Despite these numbers, Ferguson still finished as the overall TE10 in fantasy points per game and finished as a top-12 fantasy tight end in 59 percent of his games played last season. In seven games, he scored 12 or more PPR points.

Ferguson should continue to benefit from playing with Prescott. Since 2020, Prescott has targeted tight ends on 19.6 percent of his pass attempts per PFF, which ranks 13th amongst 32 quarterbacks (minimum 1,000 pass attempts).

Veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks returns to the Cowboys for his second season with the team. Last year, Cooks caught 54 passes for 657 yards and eight touchdowns — his most since 2016. Far from the explosive playmaker he once was, Cooks provides the Cowboys with reliable hands on the outside but had a meager 0.16 TPRR — his lowest mark since 2019. After a slow start to the season in which he never scored more than 6.7 PPR points through the first five weeks, Cooks went on to finish as a top-24 PPR receiver in just 50 percent of his games from Weeks 6-18 and profiles as a WR3 with some weekly WR2 upside this season.

Third-year receiver Jalen Tolbert is expected to make a significant push for playing time in training camp and will face competition from second-year receiver Jalen Brooks and rookie Ryan Flournoy. Tolbert has caught 24 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns in his career and shouldn’t be counted on in seasonal leagues outside of best ball leagues, where he’s an intriguing late-round dart throw.

Running Game

RB: Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Royce Freeman
OL (L-R): Tyler Guyton, Tyler Smith, Brock Hoffman, Zack Martin, Terence Steele

The current makeup of the Cowboys’ backfield seriously challenges the notion that the team is “all-in” to win this season. Gone is Tony Pollard, who signed with the Titans earlier this offseason, and back in the fold is Ezekiel Elliott, who will turn 29 at the end of July.

The Cowboys made the correct decision in cutting Elliott last offseason, allowing him to slog his way to 642 rushing yards and three touchdowns (3.8 YPC) with the Patriots. However, after a season in which their running backs had the fourth-lowest touchdown rate (25 percent) on rush attempts inside their opponents’ five-yard line, the Cowboys decided to reunite with Zeke in hopes of converting more scoring opportunities in the “green zone.”

Elliott ran the ultimate PPR scam during the second half of last season when he caught 38 passes in his last nine games — the second-most receptions of any running back over that span and three more catches than Christian McCaffrey. Fantasy managers chasing that production would be wise to reconsider, as the Cowboys’ offense has far more weapons in the passing game than the Patriots did last season.

When it comes to his efficiency (or lack thereof) on the ground, Elliott was about what we expected. In addition to averaging 3.8 YPC, Elliott ranked 41st amongst 49 running backs in RYOE per NFL Next Gen Stats and ranked 37th in rushing success rate at 45.1 percent. Elliott forced a missed tackle on just 12 percent of his attempts, which ranks 45th amongst 49 running backs (min. 100 carries) per FantasyPoints.com. Assuming he doesn’t repeat with another 50-catch campaign, it’s hard to get excited about what Zeke has to offer in 2024. With that said, the Cowboys have few options to consider behind him. If he secures the RB1 role out of camp, the volume, coupled with a valuable goal-line role, could prove enough to make Zeke a top-24 back in PPR leagues.

Last year’s RB2, Rico Dowdle, is expected to challenge Elliott for touches and could emerge as a value late in fantasy drafts. Far from a high-end back, it’s hard to argue against the idea of Dowdle being the best back on the Cowboys this season. Dowdle, 26, rushed for 89-361-2 last season (4.1 YPC) while adding 17 receptions for 144 yards and two scores. Dowdle averaged 4.8 yards per touch, proving to be little more than an average back when it came to evading tackles and creating yards after contact. He forced a missed tackle on just 15 percent of his carries and averaged 2.91 YCO/ATT.

Deuce Vaughn, who flashed at times last year in the preseason, could emerge as a darkhorse for touches in this underwhelming backfield, but the 5-foot-5, 176-pound back averaged just 1.7 YPC on 23 rush attempts and looked nothing like the player his most die-hard truthers touted him as all offseason. Vaughn doesn’t have the size to operate as a between-the-tackles grinder and is well off the fantasy radar at this time.

Win Totals

The fine folks at DraftKings Sportsbook have the current over/under win total for the Cowboys set at 10.5 wins. Double-digit wins feel within reach for a team coming off a 12-win season, and the Cowboys are also set to return several key players on both sides of the ball. With that said, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who led a top-five unit last season, is now in Washington, and the Eagles remain a legitimate threat to win the NFC East. Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis ranks the Cowboys as having the 11th toughest schedule this season based on opponents’ projected Vegas win totals, which could make picking this over a risky proposition.

The Dallas Mavericks entered the 2024 NBA Draft with no first-round picks but with some possible trades being circulated. They left the first round standing pat, not making a single move on Wednesday night. They currently hold the 58th overall pick, which is the last pick of the draft due to a few teams having picks removed due to tampering violations.

Because the NBA wanted more eyes on the NBA Draft, they split the two rounds into separate days, so the second round will take place Thursday afternoon, starting at 3 p.m. CST. We’ll have an article discussing possible options for the Mavs at pick No. 58 here on MavericksGameday.com.

READ MORE: The Brooklyn Nets Could Have a Fire Sale, Who Could The Dallas Mavericks Trade For?

While there wasn’t much expectation the Mavs would trade into the first round, there were possibilities of moving off the Tim Hardaway Jr. or making a splash move for Portland’s Jerami Grant or Brooklyn’s Cameron Johnson. Portland already made one big trade, acquiring Deni Avdija from Washington, and could make more moves soon. The Hardaway trade is likelier to happen on Thursday if they attach the 58th overall pick to his contract and possibly move into Detroit’s 53rd overall pick.

Nico Harrison, General Manager for the Dallas Mavericks, has not been shy about making draft-day trades in his tenure, making multiple moves last year to acquire Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and trading down in his first draft to acquire Jaden Hardy. It’s unlikely they find a player that can contribute with the last pick of the draft on Thursday, but if they can use it to move off a salary, that’s good enough in what is considered to be a weak draft class.

READ MORE: Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic Nominated for ESPY’s Best NBA Player of the Year Award

For most FC Dallas fans, losing out on former Academy player Weston McKennie was always seen as a major blow to the club. The two sides never got on the same page about a Homegrown deal in 2016 when the midfielder turned 18 and opted to go to German’s Schalke instead.

McKennie has continued to some success in Europe, having spent several years with Schalke and, more recently, with Juventus in Italy.

But it appears that his time in Italy is coming to an end. His new manager, Thiago Matta, told him he ‘doesn’t plan to rely on his services’ for the 2024-25 campaign, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport.

There are reports that McKennie could be returning to America with FC Cincinnati. The Ohio-based club is looking to make an incredibly ambitious offer to Juventus to secure the US national team player.

Even if Cincinnati is able to make their offer work for McKennie, they will have to secure one small thing first: his MLS player rights from FC Dallas.

According to The Athletic’s Tom Bogert, per the league’s rules, since FC Dallas made a Homegrown offer to McKennie back in 2016, they have retained his MLS rights and will have to be compensated as a result.

This likely means that FC Dallas will secure some general allocation money, or GAM, as a result of any potential transfer for McKennie.

The sum of that will be very interesting to sort out. Some of the higher player’s rights trades in MLS history include D.C. United acquired (now current FC Dallas midfielder) Paul Arriola’s rights from the LA Galaxy in 2017 for $300k in GAM as well as $200k in TAM (targeted allocation money).

First of all, MLS player’s rights are a really dumb thing that teams are still trading around in 2024. But for these purposes, we’ll play the part. Some may recall that when FC Dallas signed Petar Musa earlier this year, they had to send some GAM over to New England for his discovery rights. So, it is kind of along those lines here with this.

Secondly, I think it would be a massive shame that FC Dallas isn’t at the table to discuss trying to bring McKennie home as a player. I get the potential transfer money, which would be tough for the Hunts to get behind after shelling out nearly $10 million earlier this year for Musa. As of this writing, we don’t know what Cincinnati is preparing to offer Juventus for McKennie, but seeing as how they paid a reported $22 million for the Little Elm native back in 2011, it may be a pretty high fee for any MLS side to do.

Lastly, as much as I would love to see a player like McKennie in MLS these days, I don’t think his time in Europe is complete. Personally, I would love to see him go back to Germany or maybe even France for a couple of seasons before returning to America. I always assumed a guy like him would make his way to MLS after the 2026 World Cup. That timing makes more sense than in 2024.