2019 Summer Sleeper: Dallas Cowboys
In our annual 32-part Summer Sleeper series, DLF scribes identify a lightly-touted player on each NFL roster who may be worthy of your consideration. Our subjects all have varying levels of “sleeperness,” but each merits a bit of in-depth discussion here in the Premium Content section.
To help everybody along, we are going to be categorizing our sleepers under one of three headings:
Super Deep Sleepers – Players who aren’t roster-worthy in 12-team leagues, but are still worth keeping an eye on.
Deep Sleepers – An end of the roster player who is more often than not on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues.
Sleeper – A likely rostered player who makes for a good trade target. Their startup ADP puts them out of the top-175 or so.
Because we aren’t going to give you the likes of mainstream sleepers, most of these players will undoubtedly fizzle. All we are asking is for you to keep an open mind and perhaps be willing to make room for one of these players on your bench. You never know when the next Adam Thielen is going to spring up. Feel free to add your own thoughts about our choice for the designated sleeper, or nominate one of your own in the comments below.
The Dallas Cowboys finished the 2018 season as NFC East Champions with a 10-6 record. Their offense ranked tenth in the league with 1,953 rushing yards. The rushing attack was led by Ezekiel Elliott, who is garnered as one of the top running backs in the league. He accumulated 2,001 yards from scrimmage, averaging 5.3 yards per touch.
One of the main goals for the Cowboys this off-season was to find some quality depth at running back. They let Rod Smith walk in free agency. The team needed an insurance policy just in case something were to happen to Elliott. It’s always good to develop talent on the back end of your roster. Snagging a young talented prospect could allow them to prepare for the future.
Tony Pollard, RB DAL
Category: Sleeper
The Dallas Cowboys drafted Pollard in the fourth round of this year’s draft. They made him a priority, hence why they over-drafted him. They wanted to make sure they left the draft with him on their roster. Jerry Jones must have had “draft Pollard no matter what” written on a sticky note in his pocket going into the draft.
The love affair with Pollard came after their pre-draft visit. He made a good impression on the coaching staff. He’s a hard worker with a versatile skill set that can really help the team. Jason Garrett and Kellen Moore wanted to add some speed to the offense, and they did just that when they drafted Pollard.
Chipotle got the better of him at the NFL Scouting Combine. He suffered a slight case of food poisoning that affected his performance, causing him to run a 4.52 40-yard dash. He was overlooked by most draft analysts until his pro-day when he set the track on fire with a 4.37 40-yard dash. Pollard will initially step in at the Valley Ranch as one of the fastest players on the team.
Many people would think that Pollard would be in line to be Ezekiel Elliott’s backup, but the Cowboys had more in store for him when they drafted him. The team has always been infatuated with having an athletic jigsaw player who they can get the ball in space, whether a satellite back like Lance Dunbar or a speedy wide receiver who can take carries out of the backfield and play on special teams like Tavon Austin, Lucky Whitehead or even Dwayne Harris.
All of the previously mentioned players had different skill sets and were in different situations, but the premise remains the same: the team likes to have a versatile asset on the offense who can fill multiple roles.
What makes Pollard a sleeper is his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. At Memphis, he caught 104 passes for 1,292 yards during his last three seasons. He would’ve had an even larger workload if it wasn’t for Darrell Henderson and Patrick Taylor siphoning away a large portion of the work.
One of the main reasons why Dallas was infatuated over Pollard during the pre-draft process was his ability to split-out in the slot and run routes as a receiver. His route running prowess gives the offense more versatility because they can motion him out of the backfield and into the slot. It will also provide him a separate role within the offense. Not only will he be playing behind Elliott, but he will also be deployed in the passing game and have his own role as a situational pass-catching specialist.
Dak Prescott likes to play it safe with the football by peppering the short to intermediate parts of the field. This is where Pollard can carve out a role as a slot receiver and become a true asset in the passing game.
The team signed Randall Cobb to a one-year deal this off-season. He has only played two full 16-game seasons during his career. If he were to go down with an injury, then Pollard could receive additional work in the slot. There’s also a chance that the Cowboys let Cobb walk in free agency after this year, allowing Pollard to see a larger role as the team’s slot receiver. In essence, Pollard is more suited to take over as the team’s slot receiver than being the team’s feature back.
Elliott is the big elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. He’s signed with the team through 2020 and could possibly receive an extension next off-season. There’s a strong possibility that the team runs Elliott into the ground and then sends him on his way in free agency. That situation occurred with DeMarco Murray. With Elliott’s history of suspensions and off-the-field antics, there’s a good chance that the Cowboys organization will follow the Murray blueprint.
Either way, whether he re-signs with the team or gets sent packing his bags, there are opportunities for Pollard to prove himself and become a key staple to the offense down the line. Don’t forget Elliott has received 1,078 touches in the last three seasons and is also used heavily in pass protection. The human body can only take so much. The gate could open for Pollard sooner than expected.
EVERYBODY HAS A PRICE
Whether it’s dynasty or redraft, Pollard is going for a song in most leagues. He’s falling to the fourth round of rookie drafts and he has a 210 ADP in startup drafts. Pollard is an undrafted free agent in 99.9 percent of redraft leagues. This makes sense because there’s no clear-cut scenario where he’s going to see a large enough workload to make him fantasy-relevant in the near future. However, you have to hover your finger over the button just in case the Cowboys start giving him more work than expected.
Pollard is an easy add in most trade negotiations and he could possibly be a simple waiver wire transaction in some dynasty leagues. His price tag is borderline free and due to his current price point, there’s literally no risk in acquiring him.
Pollard’s value should increase as the season moves forward because he’s going to have a role in the offense. People are going to see him on the field taking snaps on nationally televised games which will spark interest next off-season. Like most under-the-radar rookies, he will need some luck to fall his way in order for him to become useable in fantasy. The opportunities will eventually be there for him, but he will have to take advantage of them when it is his time to perform.
From a Cowboys fan perspective, I wasn’t too keen on the pick, because I didn’t want to pay a fourth-round pick for Pollard. The team could have gotten a similar player for a cheaper rate and they might have been able to get him with their next pick. If anything, this just proves that they are heavily invested in him and they feel that he can contribute to the offense early in his career.
Not all running backs are created equal and not all running backs have the same skill sets. Even though he’s quite different from Elliott, Pollard is just an injury or a suspension away from seeing a large workload. Considering he’s in a run-heavy offense, that’s enough to make him a very intriguing lottery ticket at the end of your bench.
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