The NFL landscape changes yearly. The variance spreads from free agent signings, NFL Draft picks, coaching hires, and more. Understanding what a team’s offensive scheme could look like and meshing that with relevant nuggets from the previous year helps shape our view of teams and players for the upcoming season.

That’s where this series will come in handy. Discussing pace, red zone usage, deep passing, and everything in between, I’m venturing down the rabbit hole to provide context for all 32 NFL teams and the fantasy football players you’ll select this year.

• Philadelphia Eagles Stats to Know & Top Takeaways

*All data utilized in this article courtesy of FantasyPros, PFF, Football Outsiders, Rotoviz and Playerprofiler.com unless otherwise specified.*

Dallas Cowboys Fantasy Football Stats to Know

• With Kellen Moore as the offensive coordinator (since 2019), Dallas ranks first and ninth in neutral pace and passing rate. Over the last two seasons, they have finished top 10 in both categories each year.
• The Dallas Cowboys play six games (TB, WAS twice, PHI twice, TEN) against teams with at least two corners that finished inside the top 50 for zone coverage rate with at least 59.7% of their snaps in zone. Among tight ends, Dalton Schultz ranked ninth in yards per route run against zone with 63.4% of his target volume against this coverage type.
• Tony Pollard is the only running back in the NFL to finish top five in yards after contact per attempt (fourth) and yards per route run (third) last season (minimum 100 rushing attempts, 20 targets).
• Michael Gallup‘s yearly ranks in yards per route run among wide receivers (minimum 50 targets)
  • 2021: 66th
  • 2020: 64th
  • 2019: 10th
  • 2018: 69th
• Since 2019 Dallas has ranked top-three in pass success rate from 12 personnel twice. Last season they led the NFL in pass success rate with two tight ends on the field (59%).
• In his final two seasons at South Alabama, Jalen Tolbert ranked sixth and fifth in deep receiving yards among all FBS wide receivers.
• Since 2019, Dak Prescott has ranked second, third, and 11th in deep ball completion rate.
• Last season in the two games without Amari Cooper on the field, Dalton Schultz averaged:
  • 13.5 fantasy points (12.1 points with Cooper)
  • 7.5 targets (5.9 with Cooper)

At that target pace (127 for a full season), Schultz would have ranked third in targets at the tight end position last year behind only Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews.

Dallas Cowboys’ Top Fantasy Football Takeaways

With Kellen Moore at the controls, we have seen a large enough sample to expect the Cowboys to remain fast-paced and pass-heavy. Immense play volume and a bevy of passing with one of the best quarterbacks in the league should lead to fantasy goodness even if you have questions about the receiving options after CeeDee Lamb.

With Michael Gallup performing at league-average (or below) levels for much of his career and now recovering from an ACL tear, there’s an easy opportunity for other pass catchers to step up this season. Considering this season’s matchups and last year’s small sample without Amari Cooper, Dalton Schultz looks like the best bet to see an increased role this year. Given the Cowboys’ stellar efficiency when passing from two tight end sets over the last three seasons, we could see Sean McKeon and Jake Ferguson on the field a ton as well. If that comes to fruition, the Dallas Cowboys’ WR3 (Gallup, Tolbert or James Washington) could be squeezed for snaps.

We shouldn’t write off Jalen Tolbert for a rookie breakout. Tolbert was an excellent deep target at South Alabama, and now he’s paired with one of the best deep-ball passers in the NFL. However, if Tolbert doesn’t seize a huge role and Washington remains a forgettable player, we could also easily see Tony Pollard soak up a ton of targets. Jerry Jones’ Ezekiel Elliott fetish has repeatedly capped arguably the league’s most efficient running back, Tony Pollard. If Pollard is ever unleashed, he has league-winning upside.