The Week 10 NFL Dashboard
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Cowboys at Steelers
The Steelers host the Cowboys as 2.5-point favorites implied to score 26 points — the fourth highest total on the slate. The game’s 49.5-point Vegas total is the second-highest on the slate. The visiting Cowboys are implied to score 23.5 points.
Dallas Cowboys
Writer: Kelly McCann
QB – Dak Prescott
Prescott is straight fire right now: He has averaged 22.8 DraftKings points per game and manufactured a +6.91 Plus/Minus over the past four games.
Per our Trends tool, the Steelers have allowed a +1.75 Opponent Plus/Minus to visiting QBs this season. Prescott ranks third in Football Outsiders’ Defense-Adjusted Yards Above Replacement metric — behind only Matt Ryan and Drew Brees. Prescott also has four rushing touchdowns inside the red zone this season — the 12th-highest total in the NFL — elevating both his floor and upside. With a FantasyLabs projected ownership of just two to four percent in the DraftKings Millionaire Maker, Prescott is an excellent play in guaranteed prize pools.
In other news, Tony Romo (back) is officially questionable for Week 10. If he’s active, he will almost certainly serve as the ‘Dakup QB.’
RB – Ezekiel Elliott
Elliott has a 95 percent Bargain Rating and the third-highest projected ceiling on FanDuel. He has not totaled fewer than 16.8 FD points in six weeks and has averaged 22.0 FD points per game over the last four weeks. Per Bryan Mears’ Market Share Report, Elliott has a gigantic 60.58 percent share of the Cowboys carries over the past four games and has had six rushing attempts from inside the 10-yard line during that time. Zeke leads the NFL in rushing attempts per game (22.12) and yards per game (111.4). His FL projected ownership of 17-20 percent in the Sunday Million isn’t quite chalky enough to fade. He’s in play in both cash and GPP formats.
RB – Alfred Morris
Morris played 24 snaps and got 17 carries in relief of Elliott last week, but that is because the Cowboys were smashing the Browns. Unless you want to attempt to predict garbage-time carries and/or touchdowns, Morris should be on the DFS bench.
WR – Dez Bryant
Bryant was on the field for 51 offensive snaps last week (more than any skill position player not named Jason Witten) but he was targeted just four times and made only one reception. Bryant has been up and down all season long with Prescott, and he’s been down more frequently than up. At this point of the season, Dez is no more than a wishful GPP dart.
Dez (knee) is officially listed as questionable but was a full participant this week and is expected to play.
WR – Cole Beasley
Even though he was on the field for just 29 snaps last week, Beasley was targeted six times and, unlike Bryant, he seems to have developed a solid chemistry with Prescott. Beasley’s 19.33 percent target share over the past four weeks is the second-highest mark on the team behind Witten’s. Beasley has scored four touchdowns in his last four games and has averaged five catches and 16.5 DK points per game during that time. Cole has been exceeding his salary-based expectations on a regular basis this season. He’s playable in cash or as a contrarian GPP stacking partner with Prescott.
WR – Terrance Williams
Williams involvement in the offense dropped off considerably last week, but he has still averaged five targets per game over the last four games. Keep in mind that he’s the third or fourth receiving option in a run-heavy, ball-control offense, so he’s an extremely risky play week to week.
TE – Jason Witten
Witten stuck up for dad runners across the U.S.A. last week with an epic old-man performance. Witten continues to play nearly every single offensive snap for the Cowboys and has averaged 6.5 targets, 4.25 receptions, and 58.75 yards per game over the past four games. He’s more likely to get seven to nine points than 30 in any given week, but he did prove that the monster game is still within his range of outcomes.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Writer: John Proctor
QB – Ben Roethlisberger
Big Ben struggled against the Ravens on the road while coming off of an injury. It was the perfect storm for him to struggle. Now he finds himself in a perfect bounceback spot. Roethlisberger returns home, where he plays his absolute best football and faces off against a 7-1 Cowboys team. While the Cowboys have played dominant football this season, their defense has played well above its expectation and talent level. This week, the Cowboys will be without their top safety, Barry Church, and their top cornerback Morris Claiborne.
Big Ben has glaring home/road splits this season, averaging over 50 more passing yards per game at home and more than twice as many touchdowns.
Ben faces off against a Cowboys defense that ranks 17th against the pass in FO’s Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA). He should be able to find success. The downside when facing the Cowboys is that they lead the league in time of possession and do their best to play ‘keep away.’ After coming off a horrendous road performance against a tough divisional opponent, Ben makes a lot of sense as a tournament option. He has a FantasyLabs ownership projection of less than five percent on DK (accessible within our Player Models).
RB – Le’Veon Bell
In what looked to be the most conservative play calling in Steelers offensive history, Bell was repeatedly slammed into the Ravens top-rated DVOA rushing defense. He managed only 32 yards on the ground but was able to finish with six catches for 38 yards. At the end of the season, that might be his worst game.
The biggest concern for this weekend should be Bell’s volume against a Cowboys team that leads in time of possession. However, he continues to run the most routes of any running back and projects for a solid weekly receiving floor every week. He is also yet to score a TD this season: TD regression is coming. Bell is now the cheapest he has been all season on FD and is the highest-rated running back in the CSURAM88 Model.
RB – DeAngelo Williams
Williams (knee) is out for perhaps the next four weeks as he recovers from a surgery. In his place Fitzgerald Toussaint will pretend to be Bell’s backup.
WR – Antonio Brown
Brown was a garbage time hero in Week 9, showing that he continues to have an unreal combination of floor and ceiling as long as Ben is at QB. In what was one of Ben’s worst performances of the season, Brown still finished with 85 yards and a touchdown.
This week he faces off against a Dallas defense that is missing two of its best players in the secondary. There is no one who should be considered a problem for AB. Brown is now at his lowest salary this season on FD and is the highest-rated FD WR in the CSURAM88 Model.
WR – Sammie Coates
Coates dropped what should have been an easy TD in Week 9, managing zero catches on five targets. He now has one single catch and four receiving yards since his big game against the New York Jets. He was outplayed by Eli Rogers and should be considered a volatile boom-or-bust receiver. He has a Bargain Rating lower than 70 percent on both FD and DK.
Per the FantasyLabs News feed, it’s possible that Cobi Hamilton could play ahead of Coates this week.
WR – Eli Rogers
Rogers bounced back in a big way in Week 9, clearing 100 yards on six catches. He saw the second most targets on the team behind Brown. While this could have been related to the sloppy game from the Steelers offense, it is very much something to pay attention to with Coates fading. Rogers is just barely higher than minimum price on both DK and FD.
In other news, Markus Wheaton (shoulder) has already been declared out for the game. The slot gig firmly belongs to Rogers.
TE – Ladarius Green & Jesse James
Green (ankle) has been activated from the PUP and is expected to play. There is no indication as to how many snaps Green might play if he returns. If given a full workload, the physical specimen would make for a very interesting tournament option.
James, who has been playing in Green’s place to this point, has faded into a situational TD threat, with only nine targets over his last three games.
News Updates
After this piece is published, FantasyLabs is likely to provide news updates on a number of players herein mentioned. Be sure to stay ahead of your competition with our industry-leading DFS-focused news blurbs: