All-Cowboys Fantasy Team vs All-NFL Fantasy Squad

Published: 29^th Jul 10 5:00 am

by Jeric Griffin
NFL Network Manager

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[picappgallerysingle id="7017763"]Like most football fanatics, I am an avid fantasy football player. I play in a competitive league every year as well as two or three not-so-competitive leagues. A friend of mine who plays in my competitive league won third place in our league last year and took home a decent cash prize. I finished fourth and was ousted in the first round of the playoffs. My friend’s draft strategy was not a complex formula of player rankings and cheat sheets. Quite the contrary; he just drafted as many Dallas Cowboys as he could. So that got me thinking; how would an All-Cowboys fantasy team match up against a diverse NFL fantasy team? For our point values, we will use an average of the projected stats by NFL.com, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated, and add them up according to the standard fantasy football scoring system.

For this hypothetical showdown, we will use my friend’s picks from last year’s draft combined with additional players to fill in the roster. Ideally, you take the best running back available in the first round of a fantasy draft. However, those ten players are usually workhorse running backs on their respective teams. Players like Felix Jones and Marion Barber are not drafted nearly as high because they split carries with each other and Tashard Choice. So, we will take quarterback Tony Romo with our first pick. Romo’s mean projected fantasy stats: 4,375 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.

[picappgallerysingle id="6911747"]In the second round, let’s choose wide receiver Miles Austin. Austin’s projected stats: 1,260 yards and 9 touchdowns. You must have two solid running backs, so we’ll take Barber in round 3 and Jones is not far behind as our fourth pick. With Choice’s few wildcat plays, he’ll do as a third back, and we’ll take him in round 9. Barber’s projected numbers: 698 yards and 8 touchdowns. Jones’ forecast: 973 yards and 6 touchdowns; Choice’s estimate: 403 yards and 2 TDs.

Round 5 will feature rookie receiver Dez Bryant, and we’ll wrap our receiving corps with Roy Williams, who will be our seventh-round selection. Bryant’s projection: 827 yards and 5 touchdowns; Williams’: 611 yards and 4 TDs. Rock solid tight end Jason Witten is a steal in round 6. The Tennessee product is easily a top 5 tight end, and we’ll gladly take a tight end who had at least 80 receptions in the past three seasons. Witten’s forecast: 90 catches and 5 touchdowns.

[picappgallerysingle id="6781973"]The Dallas defense ranked right in the middle of the pack last year, but is expected to rise significantly in 2010. The only personnel change is the return of defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni, which only bodes well for fantasy stats. Kevin Ogletree should prove to be an excellent kick returner alongside Jones this year, but the return game won’t be anything special. Along teamed with the defense, though, the total package will rank in the top 10. Dallas Defense/Special Teams projections: 309 yards-per-game allowed, 16 points-per-game allowed, 12 interceptions, 47 sacks, 14 fumbles recovered and 3 touchdowns. Kicker David Buehler is an experiment on field goals, so middle-of-the-road projections for him: 21-28 field goals, 38-38 extra points.

Now we’ll analyze how this All-Cowboys team would fair against a slightly above-average fantasy team. The numbers are how each player would fair on an average fantasy outing:

Romo right at 16 points slightly less than Tom Brady’s 17
Barber tallies right at 8 while Steven Jackson scores 14
Jones’ 11 points tops Thomas Jones’ 8
Austin outscores Roddy White 11-10
Bryant’s 6 is edged by San Antonio Holmes’ 7
Williams hits 5-5 stalemate with Nate Washington
Witten scores 9, and beats Brent Celek’s 8
Dallas DST ties 7-7 with 49ers DST
Buehler outscored 5-4 by Josh Brown

Overall, the All-Cowboys fantasy team loses 81-77. However, if Dallas takes this tough team down to the wire, they could easily beat another above-average team and definitely any typical fantasy team. The Cowboys’ players can definitely win the individual battles, and all those talents combined into a team effort could mean Super results for the 2010 real-life season.

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