The Dallas Cowboys are certainly an interesting bunch. They refuse to pay anyone, citing future flexibility to make sure that they can pay everyone. As such, this might be the last ride for CeeDee Lamb in a Cowboys uniform, or maybe Micah Parsons, or maybe Dak Prescott? One thing we know for sure is that Jerry Jones will never be done with this team; they will never be out from under his thumb, because billions can undo the organ damage done by salting McGriddles. Let’s take a look at the 2024 Dallas Cowboys by figuring out an undervalued and overvalued player, while seeking out a sleeper on this roster.
Overvalued: Dak Prescott, Quarterback (QB8, Pick 69 Overall)
Dak lives in the no mans land group of quarterbacks. He sits just below the elite players, and is the highest drafted player in a tier of quarterbacks who all have a shot at finishing top-five, but finishing top-two or top-three are out of the realm of possibility. This includes Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, and Brock Purdy. I’m never going to take the top player in a tier, let alone the one with the most question marks surrounding his supporting players. Jordan Love’s receivers all have question marks, but they combine to create a deep and varied room. If CeeDee Lamb hurts his hamstring, then Dak is throwing to Jalen Tolbert and Brandin Cooks as his WR1 and WR2. It’s a mess.
We saw last year that Dak & the Texas Coast offense can make it work, as Prescott finished with 4500 passing yards and 36 touchdowns last season. But, given the question marks surrounding Dallas this season, taking Dak here instead of Brock Purdy, who goes 21 picks later, or Tua Tagovailoa, who goes 31 picks later, feels like a waste.
Undervalued: Jake Ferguson, Tight End (TE9, Pick 83 Overall)
Jake Ferguson quietly finished as one of just seven tight ends with over 100 targets last year, finishing with 71 catches, 761 yards, and 5 touchdowns en route to his first top-ten finish of his career. But, with the weaponry around Ferguson & CeeDee Lamb being nothing but question marks, Ferguson has a chance to step up and become a 125-target tight end, as he’s easily the second target there (much like David Njoku and his 123 targets and T.J. Hockenson and his 127 targets last season). That gives me hope that Ferguson can take a step forward, and his underlying usage paints a picture of a player that has a key role in the offense; he was first in red zone targets among tight ends, eleventh in slot snaps, and third in routes run. It’s all there for Fergo to take a step forward this season and make your roster as a budget Evan Engram.
Sleeper: Brandin Cooks, Wide Receiver (WR59, Pick 137 Overall)
Cooks finished last season with his second-straight season under 700 yards after spending almost his entire career with over 1,000 yards per season. Unfortunately, 2023 saw him finish with 54 catches, 657 yards, and 8 touchdowns in his first season in Dallas. Now, he enters his second season with a chance to take a massive chunk of the production, because there’s nobody else behind him in the receiver depth chart. Even Michael Gallup, the meager depth behind Cooks, absconded off to the desert and the Raiders. There’s just nothing there.
Cooks had limited targets in 2023, but he was still the same player as he was in Houston in rate stats, posting a higher yards per reception and near-identical catch rate as his last year in Houston, while posting a 9.9 average depth of target, the same as his highest-producing season for the Texans. Brandin Cooks might have lost a step, but he is still in there, and he has very little competition for targets. He’s a good double-digit round receiver who could return top-36 value when all is said and done.
