Dallas is mixing wins and losses in an alternating fashion, with a tie for good measure, giving the Cowboys a 3-4-1 record. Next week is their bye, followed by another appearance on Monday Night Football in Week 11. It is unlikely the Cowboys will catch Philadelphia for the NFC East title, so they are going to have to start winning to secure a Wild Card berth.
Arizona is a mess, with the running back position becoming a soap opera saga and the “franchise” quarterback not being rushed back from his most recent injury. In this edition of the Stokastic’s NFL DFS picks series, we’ll provide our Cardinals-Cowboys Week 9 MNF DFS plays for the NFL Showdown action from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
NFL Monday Night Football Week 9 DFS Picks: Cardinals-Cowboys
NFL DFS Picks for Monday Night Football Week 9: Trey McBride
Trey McBride
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $9,000
FanDuel: $9,600
Fantasy Points
DraftKings: 18.19
FanDuel: 14.71
Across 54 career games without Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback, Trey McBride had seven receiving touchdowns. In two games with Brissett under center, McBride scored three times. Brissett is an adequate backup, though he is not a difference-maker, with a 19-36 record in 55 career starts.
McBride posted a team-leading 26.26% target share through the first three weeks of the season, with an even higher 32.9% rate over Brissett’s two starts. Overall, McBride has been pedestrian with 60.1 receiving yards per game, though the matchup and appropriate salary have him popping in the Stokastic Sims for Monday Night Football.
Two of McBride’s three best games were with Brissett, and he is easily the most productive pass-catcher on the team. Elijah Higgins had five of his 11 targets over the last three games, with Tip Reiman the only other tight end to get a look, and he was targeted just once in the last four games, having been inactive the last two. Travis Vokolek and Josiah Deguara rotate active status with Reiman, though the latter two do not have any offensive opportunities to their credit.
For those of you looking for Monday’s NBA DFS analysis, check out this F-R-E-E article on Stokastic.
Arizona Cardinals Positional Preview
Quarterback | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
In a fun twist, Brissett is tied with Aaron Rodgers for the all-time NFL interception rate of 1.4%. Though he has just 57 passing touchdowns against his 25 interceptions, Brissett will cross the 12,000-yard mark with his next completion and he is the epitome of a game-manager, willing to take a sack or throw the ball away rather than forcing it into tight coverage.
Looking at the OddsShopper Live Odds page, Brissett is -105 for over 249.5 passing yards, -113 for more than 14.5 rushing yards and +325 to toss at least two touchdowns. Brissett had nine carries for 45 yards over the last two games.
Considering that Dallas allowed six different quarterbacks to rush for 23 or more yards, there is a potential wagering opportunity here. Looking at Hard Rock, alternate rushing yards appear intriguing for Brissett over 24.5 (+210), over 39.5 (+600) and over 49.5 (+1200). Splitting up one unit with a 55/25/15/5 breakdowns, beginning with the baseline wager of -113 for over 14.5 rushing yards, is a fun way to ladder this bet for entertainment purposes. Brissett has just three games with more than 40 rushing yards for his career with a high of 48, so again, do not go too crazy with this strategy.
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Running Back | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
James Conner (foot) is lost for the season in Week 3 and backup Trey Benson (knee) was hurt in Week 4, with a tentative return date sometime after Thanksgiving. Fantasy gamers thought Emari Demercado would see his role expanded from passing-down back, though that did not transpire yet, and he missed the last game with an ankle injury and is questionable for tonight. That said, the team hinted he will be active.
Michael Carter was brought in, having been with the team since being claimed off waivers from the New York Jets midway through the 2023 season. The team actually cut Carter during the bye to facilitate other roster moves, and he cleared waivers, re-signing with the practice squad. Expectations are that he will be elevated tonight, though it will be Zonovan “Bam” Knight who is the starter.
Knight was with the Jets in 2022 as an undrafted free agent, actually starting four games when Breece Hall and Carter (small world) were injured/ineffective. He spent the next year with Detroit, ultimately being placed on injured reserve without seeing action, and he was back on the New York practice squad just before the holidays last season. He made the 53-man roster out of training camp, though expectations were that he would be the RB4.
Expect Knight and Carter to share the workload tonight, with the former having a slight edge. Knight scored in two of the last three games, and Carter got his lone touchdown in Week 5. D’Ernest Johnson was a stopgap in Week 7, though he is likely to be banished back to the shadow realm for the rest of the season unless some other team is in desperate need of a running back.
This is all supposition, so it is worth tuning into the Stokastic MNF Live Before Lock Show at 7 p.m. ET for all of the up-to-date DFS analysis and information. Dallas is ceding 146 rushing yards per game at 4.9 per attempt. There should be available production, so getting the Arizona backfield correct is likely to be a huge part of tonight’s slate.
Wide Receiver | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
Marvin Harrison Jr. saw just 17 (23%) snaps in Week 6, though he was back in the mix for Week 7 with 65 (86%) offensive plays. In that game, Brissett targeted him six times, which tied for his second most of the season. In addition to allowing the third-most rushing yards per game, the Cowboys are giving up the third-most passing yards with 258.6 per tilt. The team also ceded a league-worst 20 touchdowns through eight games, so despite half the skill-position players being backups, there should be fantasy goodness available for someone as talented as Harrison.
Harrison came into the league with lofty expectations, being the son of a Hall of Famer and flashing exceptional talent at Ohio State. Perhaps the fantasy community somewhat overvalued him, but he is not a bad receiver by any stretch of the imagination. He scored in nine of his 24 (64%) games, which is better than his father (47%) and Jerry Rice (46%). OK, that was just fun with numbers, but let’s cut the kid a little slack.
Michael Wilson is third on the team with 27 targets, having four or more in each of the last four games. He is also on the field for 75% or more of the offensive action most games, which is half the battle. He is appealing on DraftKings ($3,200, 26.3%), though less so on FanDuel ($5,600, 16.2%) with the half-PPR scoring format.
Zay Jones and Greg Dortch round out the viable options, but eight of Jones’s 17 targets were in Week 6 when Harrison was concussed. Dortch had at least two targets in each of the last five games, with 14 total in this span. This duo each projects for just over two looks tonight. Dortch is also the punt returner and lead kickoff return man.
Kicker | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
Chad Ryland was a fourth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, though New England released him after a rough rookie campaign. Arizona signed Ryland last year after Matt Prater was injured, and he has been the incumbent ever since. The 26-year-old converted on 87.2% of his field goal attempts, including 6 of 7 (86%) from 50-plus yards while boasting a 98% success rate on 43 point-after-touchdown attempts.
Defense | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
Dallas allowed only 10 sacks this season, while the Cardinals have just 12 through seven games. The Cowboys are averaging one turnover per tilt, which matches Arizona’s takeaway rate.
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NFL DFS Picks for Monday Night Football Week 9: CeeDee Lamb
CeeDee Lamb
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $11,600
FanDuel: $12,800
Fantasy Points
DraftKings: 19.98
FanDuel:16.49
In his four healthy games, CeeDee Lamb topped 110 yards three times, though he scored only one touchdown. The 26-year-old earned Pro Bowl accolades in each of the last four seasons while being named to the All-NFL First or Second Team in each of the last three.
George Pickens gelled with Dak Prescott in the three-plus games that Lamb missed, and over the last two, this dynamic duo gave opposing defenses fits. Pickens scored in each of the four games without Lamb, totaling five in that span and going for 134-plus yards in two games. Arizona already allowed three wideouts to log 100 or more yards this season, so there should be some fireworks in Jerry World tonight.
Jalen Tolbert lucked into a touchdown in Denver last weekend, while KaVontae Turpin got his back in Week 2. Ryan Flournoy is also rotating in as the WR3, though this trio saw most of their opportunities when Lamb was sidelined. Turpin has always been dynamic; however, this season he has seen fewer schemed plays and is employed more as an actual receiver. It helps that the team has Pickens and, of course, a resurgent running game, so there is less of a necessity to manufacture opportunities for playmakers.
Turpin is the lead kickoff and punt returner, though he is yet to take one to the house this season. He earned Pro Bowl honors as a returner in his rookie season, and last year he did for a second time while also being named First-Team All-NFL, when he had a 60-yard punt return touchdown and a 99-yard kickoff return for a score as well.
Dallas Cowboys Positional Preview
Quarterback | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
Dak Prescott is having a strong season, ranking first at a 79.0 QBR while leading the league with 100 first downs. His stats are on pace with his 2023 season, when he led the league in completions, touchdowns, QBR and was second in the MVP voting.
There is not much else to say about Prescott as we all saw him in countless primetime games over his 10-year career. One reminder, he is not much of a runner and he never really was, despite six rushing scores in each of his first three seasons. In the 61 games since his gruesome ankle injury in the pandemic season, he averaged just under 12 rushing yards per game, with six touchdowns (or one every 10 tilts).
Wide Receivers | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
In a crazy twist, Javonte Williams, who fell out of favor in Denver, is a top-5 fantasy running back and a potential league-winner in season-long formats. He is third in the league with nine touchdowns (eight rushing) while ranking fourth with 79.1 rushing yards per game. He is also fourth on the team with 34 targets, and the rest of the running backs have 14 combined chances.
Williams will be on the field for around 70% of the snaps, with rookie Jaydon Blue filling in for a 20% share, while veteran Miles Sanders has not seen action since Week 4. Hunter Luepke will play around 20% of the plays in his hybrid fullback-tight end role. He does have a receiving touchdown, though only five targets and two carries.
Blue had 15 carries for 48 yards and one target over the last two games. The Stokastic NFL DFS stat projections have the rookie for 4.4 carries and 21.2 rushing yards, along with a 70% likelihood of seeing a target from Prescott.
Tight End | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
One is the loneliest number, and that was also how many targets Jake Ferguson saw, despite being second on the team with 59 for the season. Luke Schoonmaker saw a season-high three, while Brevyn Span-Ford had one, giving him four on the year. The playing time for this trio was in line with expectations, so chalking it up to “one of those games” for Ferguson feels appropriate.
Ferguson is tied with Pickens for the team lead in red zone looks (11) and touchdowns (6). In Week 4, Ferguson ended a 22-game scoreless streak, and aside from last week’s blip, he is a fantasy stalwart for Dallas.
Kicker | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
Brandon Aubrey is the gold standard for all of the kickers in the league, though he has some competition from Cam Little, who set an NFL record on Sunday with a 68-yard field goal as the first half ended in Las Vegas. That broke the 66-yard record of Justin Tucker, while Aubrey (65 yards) has the third-longest field goal in NFL history.
Aubrey is a perfect 16-for-16 this season and has a 91.1% career success rate. Since coming into the league, he nailed 29 of 32 (91%) from 50-plus yards.
Defense | Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9
The Cowboys are averaging one takeaway per tilt, with Arizona suffering one turnover per game. Green Bay sacked Brissett a whopping six times in Week 7, though that defense was led by former Cowboy Micah Parsons. Dallas had one or fewer sacks in five of eight games this season. The team had five on the road against embattled Justin Fields and four two games ago against backup Marcus Mariota.
NFL DFS Picks for Cardinals-Cowboys NFL DFS Picks for MNF Week 9: Rankings
Top 10 NFL DFS Showdown Picks for Cardinals-Cowboys
- Trey McBride: Best fantasy point-per-dollar ratio among the key contributors.
- Dak Prescott: The straw that stirs the drink prior to last week’s dud; he had 22-plus fantasy points in five of six games.
- CeeDee Lamb: Volume down a little with Pickens, though efficiency is up.
- George Pickens: Doesn’t have the same connection with Prescott, but they are still on the same page.
- Javonte Williams: Can the touchdowns keep piling up?
- Jacoby Brissett: Last of the preferred multiplier options; 20-plus fantasy points for a third consecutive game is on the table.
- Brandon Aubrey: Projectable salary relief.
- Zonovan “Bam” Knight: Just $400 more than Carter on FanDuel.
- Marvin Harrison Jr.: One of these games he is going to pop off.
- Jake Ferguson: Expect a bounce back.
Secondary Options
- Michael Carter: Flip his ranking with Knight on DraftKings, where Carter has a $2,600 discount.
- Chad Ryland: Good to see he is improving; too many other fantasy producers to land in the top 10, which is rare for a kicker.
- Michael Wilson: Solid on DraftKings ($3,200, 22.7%), less so on FanDuel ($5,600, 15.3%) but still in play.
Lottery Tickets
- Jaydon Blue and KaVontae Turpin: Well down the list and not extreme punts; viable for those making north of two dozen lineups.
- Zay Jones and Greg Dortch: Differentiation plays, though neither is exciting.
- Ryan Flournoy and Jalen Tolbert: Ibid.
- Arizona DST: Meh.
- Dallas DST: More than 3 fantasy points only twice this season, including a pair of negative-fantasy point performances.
- Elijah Higgins, Luke Schoonmaker, Hunter Luepke and Emari Demercado: They will all be on the field; Demercado would move to the top of this section if Carter were not elevated from the practice squad.
- Brevyn Spann-Ford, Josiah Deguara, Malik Davis, Xavier Weaver and Simi Fehoko: The first two may be active, the latter three probably not.
