The Dallas Cowboys made headlines this offseason, releasing long-term stud and face of the franchise Ezekiel Elliott and allowing Dalton Schultz to abscond off to the Houston Texans to be their newest tight end. While releasing Zeke wasn’t surprising, the Cowboys letting Zeke and Schultz go in the offseason did leave me scratching my head. I wasn’t the only one, as the Cowboys made an effort to replace both those players on their roster via the 2023 NFL Draft. But, will Deuce Vaughn and Luke Schoonmaker replace Elliott and Schultz? I doubt it, but they, along with Jalen Brooks, have a chance to step into a strong offense and potentially return fantasy football value out of the gate. Let’s take a look at their rookie year prospects, shall we?
FULL DALLAS COWBOYS 2023 NFL DRAFT RESULTS
| Rnd. | Pick No. | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 26 | Mazi Smith | DT | Michigan |
| 2 | 58 | Luke Schoonmaker | TE | Michigan |
| 3 | 90 | DeMarvion Overshown | LB | Texas |
| 4 | 129 | Viliami Fehoko | DE | San Jose State |
| 5 | 169 | Asim Richards | OT | North Carolina |
| 6 | 178 | Eric Scott Jr. | CB | Southern Miss |
| 6 | 212 | Deuce Vaughn | RB | Kansas State |
| 7 | 244 | Jalen Brooks | WR | South Carolina |
Round 2, Pick 58 Overall: Luke Schoonmaker, Tight End, Michigan (6’5” 251 lbs)
Depth Chart
TE1 Luke Schoonmaker
TE2 Jake Ferguson
TE3 Peyton Hendershot
TALENT
Schoonmaker, to me, was vastly overdrafted if you want to look at him from a pure fantasy football standpoint. But, the Cowboys want to win games, and not worry about fantasy football. With that in mind, you can understand the Cowboys spending the second-rounder on Schoonmaker, after all, he called blocking “fun” when asked about it. That makes sense since that article also points out that his current NFL idol is George Kittle, who loves to block as much as he loves wrestling (which is a lot!). Schoonmaker is a strong pass catcher, with
It feels like there are already a half-dozen Luke Schoonmakers already in the NFL. He’s Austin Hooper, Hayden Hurst, Dawson Knox, Tyler Higbee, or one of the above-average athletic tight ends with nice route running, good hands, and a nose for contact that can become a fantasy football force. All they need, of course, is an opportunity to be top-ten tight ends. This is what we call “The Blob” at tight end.
2023 OPPORTUNITY
In recent years, we’ve seen the Cowboys’ tight end position as one of strength for fantasy football purposes. Dalton Schultz became a force after the reanimated corpse of Jason Witten had fantasy relevance. Unfortunately, those fantasy campaigns came under the watchful eye of Kellen Moore, who has taken his talents to the Los Angeles Chargers. Now the Dallas Cowboys have… wait, no way… really…? Okay. They have Brian Schottenheimer. The Cowboys fired Kellen Moore and added Brian Schottenheimer. Brian Schottenheimer is terrible as an offensive coordinator and even worse for tight ends. In his twelve years on Dynasty League Football’s coaching history app, he has one top-ten season to his name and just one season wherein a tight end topped 100 targets.
I just don’t see a world where Luke Schoonmaker is enough of a difference-maker in 2023 over guys like Peyton Hendershot and Jake Ferguson. He could separate himself from the pack, but Brian Schottenheimer’s track record dictates that it is unlikely that Schoonmaker separates himself from the pack, despite his athletic prowess and catching ability.
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Outside of the normal “rookie year tight end” caveat, I struggle to find a way that Schoonmaker finds relevance in his rookie season. The tight end room is exceptionally crowded, as is the wide receiver room (more on that later). He’s also not the type of talent that demands targets, as he can stay on the field to block, instead. Unfortunately, we also have Brian Schottenheimer to contend with, so I fear that unless he can find a ton of touchdowns, Luke Schoonmaker is a tight end that you ignore in your fantasy football drafts.
TALENT
2023 OPPORTUNITY
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 6, Pick 212 Overall: Deuce Vaughn, Running Back, Kansas State (5’5” 179 lbs)
Depth Chart
RB1 Tony Pollard
RB2 Malik Davis
RB3 Deuce Vaughn
RB4 Ronald Jones
RB5 Rico Dowdle
TALENT
Vaughn is a fun player to watch, and not just because of his Rudy vibes. Vaughn is a frenetic and fun runner who has a nose for the hole on the line and an even better ability to catch the ball out wide. Deuce Vaughn is a good little football player, with an emphasis on little. At 5’5” and 179 pounds, Vaughn faces an uphill battle for the modern NFL: since 2012, only Dexter McCluster played over 340 offensive snaps in a season as a sub-185-pound running back. He and LaRod Stephens-Howling are the only two to top 200 snaps. So, that is to say, his opportunities will be limited. The NFL just isn’t built for guys like him at the NFL level, and classic tiny player Darren Sproles had an inch and 11 pounds on Vaughn. He is beyond small.
2023 OPPORTUNITY
While Vaughn is beyond small, he is also, by far, the second-best running back on the Dallas Cowboys roster. While I fully expect Tony Pollard to get the plurality of touches (mostly because Pollard is more talented than every other running back in Dallas, combined). I fully expect Vaughn to get a crack at the 1B role, should he make the 53-man roster. But, I’m not so sure he can cash that in. He is a speedy player who is a threat with the ball in his hands and some grass ahead of him, so he should do moderately well with that role. But again, that’s if he makes the 53-man. That might not happen, what with KaVontae Turpin playing a similar role. It’s likely that he tops out in his rookie season as a special teamer and part-time player.
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Despite loving his talents, I am not in love with Vaughn as a football player. Call me a heightist if you would like, but I don’t see any world where I am drafting Vaughn in fantasy football redraft leagues. Keep a close eye on him? Absolutely. But I don’t see a reason why I would spend a draft pick on him, at least not at this point. That could change during the preseason, but I am not bullish enough on Vaughn to want to draft and hold him. You can ignore him during the draft season.
TALENT
2023 OPPORTUNITY
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 7, Pick 244 Overall: Jalen Brooks, Wide Receiver, South Carolina (6’1” 201 lbs)
Depth Chart
WR1 CeeDee Lamb
WR2 Brandin Cooks
WR3 Michael Gallup
WR4 Jalen Tolbert
WR5 Simi Fehoko
WR6 Jalen Brooks
TALENT
I like to play MLB The Show, which, and stick with me here, explains how I feel about Jalen Brooks. In the Diamond Dynasty mode, you can collect various iterations of a player, including ones who might not have the best statistics. So, all of a sudden, you’re playing with a middling power Ken Griffey Jr. I’m sure this mode is also in Madden, but that set of menus is so inscrutable and the number of dollar signs I saw bothered me so much that I gave up.
Anyway, where I was going with this is that Jalen Brooks is the weird devolution of A.J. Brown that you could get with this type of Ultimate Team power level. Brooks has shifty hands, he’s fast, and elusive, and has a ton of good traits. Unfortunately, they’re all barely on this side of good and frequently veer into the dark side. Brooks can make some nice contested catches, but too many of his catches were contested for my taste. This screams separation issues at the NFL level. I’m just not particularly wowed by a bad version of a good player that I already like.
2023 OPPORTUNITY
Brian Schottenheimer is one of the worst offensive minds currently employed by a team in the National Football League. If his name was Brian Brooks, nobody would have him on a coaching roster, but he continues to coast by on his dad’s name. Because of this, I doubt that the offense generates enough oomph to give Jalen Brooks enough look to make him fantasy relevant for his rookie campaign.
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
I mean, look at that depth chart. He’s behind Simi Fehoko. Simi! Fehoko! Brooks is not even the hottest young talent at wide receiver on his own roster. That honor goes to Jalen Tolbert. I doubt that Jalen Brooks even makes the 53-man roster (unless it’s for special teams) and I especially doubt that he usurps anyone else in this room to be top-three on the Cowboys in wide receiver targets this season. And that’s not a fantasy-relevant role, no matter how you slice it.
TALENT
2023 OPPORTUNITY
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
[Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NFL_Draft,_Chicago_2016_(33600739601).jpg under cc-2.0]
