The year is officially over, and so is the 2025 fantasy season, as things wrapped up this past weekend. The Dallas Cowboys had several key players who made a big impact this year. In fact, most of them
outperformed their fantasy projections. Oddly enough, the one who didn’t had been a fantasy mainstay for the last few years. With the fantasy season in the books, we thought we’d look back and see how the key Cowboys’ players performed.
Dak Prescott
Projection: QB13 4,255 yards, 28 TDs, 12 INTs, 291.3 fantasy points,
Actual: QB5 4,482 yards, 30 TDs, 10 INTs, 323.1 fantasy points
Dak Prescott outperformed his draft position and finished as a top-five fantasy quarterback this season. If you were a Dak owner (raises hand), congrats, not only did you have a great fantasy QB, but you likely got him at a discount. That’s because he was coming off a down year where his season was cut short from injury, and people suddenly just forgot how good he can be. In fact, recency bias is so strong that this has been the case with Prescott over the last several years. When he’s coming off a good year, he’s expensive. When he’s coming off a down year, he’s dirt cheap. And when he’s healthy, he’s a fantasy stud. When he’s not, he’s not. When Dak plays at 75% of the games, he’s going to have over 4,000 yards passing, 30+ TDs, and finish as a top-seven scoring fantasy quarterback. This has been a true statement since 2019.
Not only did Prescott benefit from an improved offensive scheme thanks to moving away from Mike McCarthy and having Brian Schottenheimer and Klayton Adams run the show, but he also benefited from having a fantastic second wide-receiving weapon in George Pickens, who we’ll get to shortly. The Cowboys finished the fantasy season with the fourth-highest scoring offense, and Prescott finished with 4,482 passing yards, the most in the NFL. It wasn’t that hard to predict a strong fantasy season
There is a very simple process to owning Prescott. If you can get a good value, pounce. If he’s too pricey, pass. Prescott’s recent injury history makes him a bit risky to pay a higher price, but he’s proven he’s a valuable commodity when healthy. Since he’s coming off a strong season, expect his price to be higher next year.
Javonte Williams
Projection: RB32 642 rushing yards, 220 receiving yards, 5 total TDs, 133.8 fantasy points
Actual: RB11 1,201 rushing yards, 137 receiving yards, 13 total TDs, 225.3 fantasy points
In one of the biggest fantasy surprises, free agent running back Javonte Williams blew away his draft projection and just barely missed finishing as a top 10 fantasy running back. When you look at the data, it’s easy to understand why he was undervalued. The Cowboys’ rushing offense last year was one of the worst in the league, and Williams himself came with questions. Plus, the addition of Miles Sanders and rookie Jaydon Blue appeared to point to some type of timeshare, or at the very least, created a mystery as to which back would inherit the largest volume of work.
For Williams, everything came together nicely for him, fantasy-wise. Sanders got hurt, and Blue was a healthy scratch most of the season, only making four appearances this year, and none of them came after October. The improvements within the offensive line blocking scheme, thanks to Adams and Conor Riley, helped immensely, and Williams received plenty of goal-line carries in a top-scoring offense. His 11 rushing touchdowns matched what he had his entire four-year tenure with the Denver Broncos. With such a strong showing this season, expect Williams to carry a higher price tag (both in fantasy and reality) next season.
CeeDee Lamb
Projection: WR3 112 catches, 1,395 yards, 8 TDs, 250.0 fantasy points
Actual: WR18 74 catches, 1,073 yards, 3 TDs, 162.5 fantasy points
CeeDee Lamb has been one of the best wide receivers in the league over the last few years, so naturally, there were big expectations for him this season. Unfortunately, an ankle injury he suffered in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears caused him to miss a month of action. When he returned, Lamb was okay. He was still getting a good dose of targets, and on the year, he had six 100-yard games, doubling the amount he had last year.
But what Lamb was lacking was those big number games. His season-high was 121 yards, and he only had three touchdowns on the year. Having four games with no points hurt his overall numbers, but having another stud receiver also cut into his target share had an effect. For a guy who has received over 150 targets in each of the last three seasons, sharing hurt his fantasy value. This will definitely be a factor next season if Pickens decides to remain with the Cowboys. Speak of the devil…
George Pickens
Projection: WR30 70 catches, 1,109 yards, 6 TDs, 174.3 fantasy points
Actual: WR4 92 catches, 1,420 yards, 9 TDs, 219.0 fantasy points
As you can see from the fantasy projections, nobody would have expected that the trade for Pickens would have worked out as well as it did for the Cowboys’ offense. The change in scenery did wonders for the former Steelers receiver, who blew away his career numbers in Pittsburgh in his first season with Dallas. Having Prescott throw him the ball helped, and it was nice not to face so many double-teams courtesy of the attention drawn by Lamb.
Pickens benefited from playing on the Cowboys’ offense, but his talent elevated his production. Between ridiculous catches or leaping over defenders as he runs after the catch, he proved himself a big-play receiver. He had a Pro Bowl season for the first time in his career, and that will come with a hefty pay increase, whether it comes from the Cowboys or another team.
Jake Ferguson
Projection: TE12, 68 catches, 621 yards, 4 TDs, 116.4 fantasy points
Actual: TE6, 81 catches, 595 yards, 8 TDs, 146.1 fantasy points
Jake Ferguson was coming off a poor fantasy season because he never found the end zone a single time last year. Because of that, he had a modest projection for the season. He outperformed his projections thanks to a career-high target volume and making up for lost time in touchdowns. Despite having two star receivers on the team, Ferguson was still a safety net for Prescott, finishing second on the team in receptions.
The Cowboys’ tight end was fast out of the gate and was looking like one of the best fantasy sleepers over the first half of the season. From weeks two to seven, he recorded double-digit fantasy points in every game. Unfortunately, his numbers fell off after that, never hitting double-digits at any point over his final nine games. He still finished as the sixth-best fantasy tight end for the season, but that early start left fans wishing for more.
Brandon Aubrey
Projection: K1, 33 FGs, 41 PATs, 140.1 fantasy points
Actual: K2, 35 FGs, 45 PATs, 182.6 fantasy points
Entering the season, Brandon Aubrey was the consensus number one kicker in the league. And justifiably so. Over his first two seasons in the league, he finished as the highest-scoring kicker in fantasy. That streak came to an end this year, but only because Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers had a fantastic season, beating out Aubrey for the top spot. But as good as he is, he’s just a kicker. Does it really matter?
Actually, it does. A great majority of the kickers will yield somewhere between 7.0 and 9.0 points a game. And it’s that reason, people don’t put a lot of stock in kickers. Sure, there are a handful of guys who will average double-digits in a given season, but trying to guess who they might be can be a bit of a crap shoot.
Thankfully, Aubrey has come along and taken the guesswork out of it. Every year, he’s averaged at least 11 points a game, and has a three-year average of 12 points a game. The reason this is important is that Aubrey’s three-point advantage over the average kicker is equivalent to having Trey McBride over the TE10 or JaMarr Chase over the WR10. Think of the draft cost it takes to have one of those guys compared to just taking Aubrey a smidge earlier than everyone else. Aubrey is a low-key fantasy cheat code, and make sure you’re a benefactor.
