Fantasy Football Player Notes

No more Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson can only spell great things for CeeDee Lamb in 2022. The biggest issue with Lamb was that he never was seeing the requisite target volume in an offense that had a surplus of playmakers.

Lamb boasted just an 18% target share last season - which ranked outside the top-30 among all pass-catchers.

But with the 8th-most vacated targets left to be distributed between Lamb, tight end Dalton Schultz, ACL-injury returning Michael Gallup, veteran James Washington and third-round rookie pick Jalen Tolbert, I'd bet Lamb crests at least a 20% target share in 2022. His 21% target rate per route run bested anybody in Dallas last season.

And that means more fantasy production will be on its way. Only once did Lamb fail to score double-digit fantasy points in a game where he commanded fewer than six targets in 2021.

Coming off a stellar season as PFF's sixth-highest-graded tight end (78.2), Dallas placed the franchise tag on Dalton Schultz off the career season and released veteran Blake Jarwin.

Big D's No. 1 tight end wrapped up the 2021 season sixth in route participation (77%) and third in overall routes run (586). The highly-coveted role within the constrains of a high-powered offense ensures that Schultz will be in the back-end fantasy TE1 conversation for the third straight season.

Only Darren Waller, Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews have scored more fantasy points at the tight end position since the start of 2020.

With Dak Prescott's trust firmly in hand and Amari Cooper out the door, it's possible that Schultz builds off his ninth-ranked 16% target share entering Year 5.

Dak will be entering his age-29 season, putting him squarely in the prime of his career. He struggled at times during the second half of last season but finished with 12 TD passes and 0 INTs in his final three-regular season games. His supporting cast should be strong again, though Cowboys figure to lose WR Michael Gallup and perhaps TE Dalton Schultz in free agency. One troubling development for Dak's fantasy value: The Dallas defense has become one of the best in the league, which means fewer shootout game scripts.

Michael Gallup's late season injury will almost certainly hurt his chances of being available for Week 1, with some diagnoses saying the Cowboys WR won't be ready until October.

The 2018 third-rounder averaged just 10.2 fantasy points per game in 2021 (47th), less than his 2020 season (10.8).

It \doesn't help Gallup's case either that the team re-signed tight end Dalton Schultz, who figures to compete for top targets with CeeDee Lamb. Third-round rookie Jalen Tolbert also figures to get plenty of reps in training camp with Gallup rehabbing.

Be careful to not overinvest in Gallup for fear that you'll be wasting a roster spot for a player that falls into the fantasy WR3 with upside tier, that just doesn't move the needle.

The Dallas Cowboys needed a No. 3 receiver and Jalen Tolbert fits the bill to a tee.The South Alabama product was a mega-producer in the small school college ranks.

The 6-foot-1 and 194-pound deep-ball specialist earned a career 31% dominator rating - top-three in the class - factoring in a redshirt freshman season. Tolbert posted dominator ratings of 35%, 42%, and 42% from his sophomore year onward. He torched defenses downfield as the nation's leader in targets (99), catches (38), and receiving yards (1,402) on targets of 20-plus air yards.

Tolbert also boasts a 19-year-old breakout age - his player profile stacks up with some top wideouts from his class.

And although Tolbert doesn't possess elite speed - 57th percentile 40-yard dash time - he still understands how to get open deep. He's similar to Adam Thielen in that fashion.

If Tolbert can beat out James Washington - on a one-year $1.2M contract - in training camp, he could offer immediate value with Michael Gallup unlikely to be ready for Week 1 coming off a torn ACL.

He's got big-play ability that should gel well with quarterback Dak Prescott.