Cowboys Vs Giants Showdown DFS: EMac's SNF Week 1 Top-10 And The Rest

Eric MacPherson's showdown card for Sunday Night Football, the Cowboys at the Giants at MetLife Stadium. Take his Top-10 into the Stokastic NFL Sims and build from there.

Dallas Cowboys Overview

For savvy best ball drafters, this has been a tough Week 1 with A.J. Brown, De’Zhaun Stribling , Brock Bowers, etc. Regarding Dallas, the Cowboys cut Jaydon Blue who had worked his way into the 14th-round during the late training camp best ball mania, only to be released by the team and not brought back via the practice squad. After Malik Davis suffered a season ending hip injury Friday, that looks like a problem for the suddenly thin position.

Javonte Williams was already anointed the coveted “bell cow” role, which is only cemented for tonight. That is great and we should join The Masses in rolling with the sixth-year veteran, though we need to remember that his receiving productivity cratered last year, with just 137 yards on 51 targets, averaging 3.9 (not a typo) yards on his 35 receptions.

Please understand this is not intended to be the cold bucket of reality for this matchup, particularly with Hunter Luepke and Emari Demercado as the backups. Luepke is more of an old school “H-Back” who plays the modern-day fullback/standup tight end hybrid. He has been with the team for the last three seasons, with 34 carries and 35 targets during this span.

Of course, Demercado is not much of a threat to Williams either having spent six seasons in college, before joining Arizona as a UDFA in 2023 and earning a tertiary role. He was scooped off the scrap heap when he was put on waivers by Kansas City during the final cutdown, though the initial appeal for Dallas was to use him as a pass-protector and by no means an RB2. Israel Abanikanda has been elevated from the practice squad, though offensive action in anything other than a blowout is unlikely.

Turning our attention to the passing game, the Cowboys do have an embarrassment of riches with 5-time Pro Bowler and 3-time All-Pro CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, who earned his first Pro Bowl nomination last year, while also being named to the Second-Team All-Pro squad.

Ryan Flournoy was a solid WR3 and KaVontae Turpin of course parlayed his USFL MVP into an NFL opportunity that has seen him named to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist in three of the last four seasons, while he also was tabbed with First-and-Second-Team All-Pro accolades in two of those campaigns. On offense, Turpin usually gets a couple of designed plays each game and with the loss of Davis, it would be a surprise if he doesn’t get a couple of rushing opportunities tonight.Jalen Tolbert is now with Miami, so Jonathan Mingo is the likely WR5 and we leave no stone unturned for showdowns.

Jake Ferguson has been outstanding as a fantasy tight end, also earning Pro Bowl designations two of the last three seasons. He was second on the team with a career-high eight touchdowns last year, seeing 102 targets, with Luke Schoonmaker getting 23 and Brevyn Span-Ford 13 as each played in all 17 games. Span-Ford just signed a 3-year $18 million deal as the Cowboys wanted to lock in his blocking prowess demonstrated both in college and now the pros, aided by his massive 6’6” 265lb frame.

This will be the 11th campaign for Dak Prescott, who is at the top of his game with Pro Bowl efforts in two of the last three seasons and ranking third in the Comeback Player of the Year after missing half of 2024. In his 70 regular seasons games after his gruesome 2020 ankle injury, he has averaged a tick over three carries per game for 11.4 yards with seven scores. He is mobile in the pocket, be we should not count on any regular rushing production. Of course he led the league with 404 completions last year and with 410 in 2023, notching 30 and 36 aerial scores. He is the conductor of this fantasy friendly offense and it really is a match made in heaven.

Brandon Aubrey remains the gold standard, even though he did not land a job in the league until he was 28-years-old back in 2023. He has been tabbed as an All-Pro in each season and gamers are very familiar with his booming kicks.

The Dallas defense was dreadful last year and expectations are that there will be six new starters for the unit that managed only 12 takeaways and 35 sacks.

New York Giants Overview

John Harbaugh is the new head coach for the Giants, having spent the last 18 seasons overseeing Baltimore. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to a very young core of skill position players and if he can evolve his system to the contributors at hand.

Cam Skattebo was a pleasant surprise before fracturing his fibula in Week 8, collecting just over 500 combined yards and five touchdowns in the five games during his breakout. Of course he is in a crowded situation that saw the team interested in drafting Jeremiyah Love had he fallen to the fifth pick and after a Tyrone Tracy Jr. blocking miscue in the preseason, Najee Harris was signed and knowing the old school Harbaugh, it is probably a co-RB1 situation that will unfold if Harris flashes any sort of consistency and of course Skattebo avoids injury.

Devin Singletary is still in the mix as well and Patrick Ricard followed the coaching staff from the Ravens. However, the former defensive lineman turned fullback has just one carry over his last 45 games, with 14 targets for 9/82/2. There is a chance that Tracy or Singletary is inactive, but we will not know until later tonight.

Malik Nabers is nearly one year removed from shredding his knee, though he has been cagey about his status tonight. There is no reason for the team to push him to play if he is not ready and even if he does suit up, the question will be how much does he play and will it be enough to pay off his salary cap figure if he does not find the end zone.

Rookie Malachi Fields is the next man up, though his projection is half that of Naber’s and the whole offense would take a hit without the biggest threat on the field. He still is a viable click in all contingencies with his reasonable salary on DK ($5.0k) and FD ($7.6k). Similarly veteran Darnell Mooney falls into the same category in his first official game as a Giant.

It is a fun story having Odell Beckham Jr. back in the Meadowlands, though since his Super Bowl LVI run with the Rams, he has played in just 23 games with his last six starts coming in 2023 with Baltimore. In this timeframe he has seen 82 targets, converting 44 into 620 yards and a trio of tuddies. Darius Slayton was a late cut, while Braxton Berrios made the squad, though we will have to see who the actives are tonight, with Nabers of course being the seismic data point.

Isaiah Likely got the bag (3-years, $40 million) to join Harbaugh in New York and while he never put his potential to consistent use with the Ravens, he should have ample opportunities with his new squad. The salary is hefty on FD ($8.2k) and he is far from cheap on DK ($6.4k), but he at least has the support of the head guy. Theo Johnson is very much in play for a significant discount, particularly on DraftKings with full-PPR scoring. Clearly it is a new regime, though to his credit he “led” the team with five receiving scores.

Daniel Bellinger is now in Tennessee, so the rest of the tight end room will be staffed by Chris Manhertz and Thomas Fidone II.

The G-Men are hoping to see significant improvement on defense under the new coaching regime, particularly with the addition of edge rusher Arvell Reese, using the fifth overall selection on the former Ohio State stalwart. Prescott does a good job of limiting sacks and turnovers, even with shaky offensive line play, so we are hoping for a pick-six or scoop-and-score for this unit to unlock their DFS upside.

Dominic Zvada is an undrafted rookie out of Michigan, who won the kicking job in training camp over Ben Sauls, who was on the New York and Atlanta practice squads last year, after being a late cut from Pittsburgh, where he spent training camp after being undrafted. Zvada was the Big-10 Kicker of the Year, though he did not replicated that success during his senior season. It would be a surprise if he makes it through the entire season as a starter.

NFL DFS Week 1 SNF Showdown: Top-10

1. Javonte Williams: The hope is that Demercado does not cut in too much, outside of obvious passing situations. That is likely to change going forward, but with his recent addition he has not had a lot of time to acclimate to the offense.

2. Jaxon Dart: Needs at least 35+ rushing yards to even begin to make his DFS backers happy.

3. Dak Prescott: The rare non-running quarterback who has enough passing volume to keep him squarely in the mix for the multiplier slot.

4. CeeDee Lamb: Gets the nod over Pickens due to his extensive familiarity with Prescott.

5. George Pickens: Performed well when engaged and when Lamb was sidelined.

6. Brandon Aubrey: Still the gold standard for kickers, there are many more in the league catching up though.

7. Malik Nabers: If he were fully healthy and not coming off injury, he would be three spots higher. This is where fortune very well may favor the bold, so let your personal risk tolerance be your ultimate guide.

8. Cam Skattebo and Najee Harris: New coach and a surprising RB1, who just cannot stay healthy. Harris presents a massive savings on both DK ($6.4k) and FD ($5.8k). They can be played together, though the best upside for each will be at the expense of the other in the red zone.

9. Isaiah Likely: Downgrade in quarterback and lack of sustained DFS success definitely offsets his new opportunity as the go-to TE1.

10. Dominic Zvada: Rough senior season, though he benefits from a fine fantasy point per dollar ratio off his median projection and he has a conservative coach who likes safe points on the board.

NFL DFS Week 1 SNF Showdown: And The Rest

Secondary Targets

Jake Ferguson: Trusted outlet for Prescott, there is a lot of competition with everyone healthy.

Malachi Fields: Rookie would move above Zvada if Nabers is inactive.

Ryan Flournoy: Similar to Ferguson, things are crowded.

KaVonte Turpin: Best employed on DK ($2.6k), where 4-5 opportunities would give him a high probability of outperforming this salary. If Davis were healthy, Turpin would have been in the Lottery section below.

Dallas DST: The unit is mostly healthy and there is a lot of “new” and “inexperience” on the other side with so many variables facing New York.

Lottery Tickets

Emari Demercado: Savvy gamers will use him as the skeleton key to unlock a variety of roster construction strategies.

New York DST: Should be coached up with the new staff, plus the fifth-overall selection on an edge rusher helps. They will have their work cut out for them against a highly experienced field general.

Darnell Mooney and Theo Johnson: Would get a bump to the top of this section if Nabers is out.

Hunter Luepke, Brevyn Spann-Ford and Luke Schoonmaker: Defined roles and while they are well down the pecking order, Prescott is more than happy to take what opposing defenses give him.

Odell Beckham Jr.: Feel good story, but even at a discounted salary he really needs Nabers to sit in order to be remotey reasonable as a recommendation.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary: This assumes one will be inactive.

Braxton Berrios: Likely will handle return duties for the Giants.

Jonathan Mingo, Chris Manhertz, Dalen Cambre, Patrick Ricard, Thomas Fidone II, James Mitchell, Camden Brown and James Mitchell: Half will likely be inactive, those that play project for just under two fantasy points in aggregate.

The Stokastic Sims Board For Cowboys-Giants

The ten highest-projected players on the DraftKings showdown slate from the Stokastic NFL Sims, flex salary, with projected field ownership, as a check on EMac's card above.

More on this: NFL DFS Hub: Every Live Stokastic NFL Page · Cowboys Vs Giants Showdown DFS: Don't Captain Prescott · DraftKings NFL DFS Cheat Sheet Week 1

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