Cowboys Beat: Darren McFadden will be the third-down back

Jun 09, 2015

Bob Sturm on the Cowboys' backfield roles: I think [Darren McFadden] is going to be your 3rd Down guy when it all shakes out. That focuses on what he does well and it also limits what he doesn’t do well. So, I have McFadden as a 3rd down guy and [Joseph Randle] on 1st and 2nd as a very reasonable zone runner who can get some nice things done.

Fantasy Impact:

The soon-to-be 28-year-old McFadden hasn't cracked 3.5 YPC since the 2011 season, when he ran for 614 yards on 113 carries (5.4 YPC) in seven games. That's the rub with McFadden -- fantasy owners haven't been able to count on his durability. He has missed roughly a quarter of his team's games since entering the league. He's a solid receiver (69.6% catch rate), so a third-down role makes sense given his skill set and injury history. If Randle plays on first and second down, he should be a productive fantasy RB2 behind the Cowboys' stout offensive line.

yesterday

Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson officially Out for Week 12

Adam Schefter

yesterday · 4:12 PM EST

Cowboys list TE Jake Ferguson as out for Sunday’s game vs. Washington due to his concussion.

Related Players: Luke Schoonmaker

Fantasy Impact:

This puts Schoonmaker more or less in TE streaming consideration, but there are far better options this week, which puts him low on the totem pole.

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith officially Out for Week 12

Mike Garafolo

yesterday · 4:04 PM EST

Eagles ruled out WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) for Sunday against the Rams.

Related Players: A.J. Brown, Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson, Dallas Goedert

Fantasy Impact:

It's a bit of a crapshoot as to who the "WR2" on the offense will be, but now that he's ruled out, Brown and Goedert should get a nice boost to their bottom line. That would lock Goedert into a no-doubt TE1 role in Week 12.