NFC East · 2026 Season

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys fantasy football hub

DivisionNFC East
Record1-2
Standing3rd in NFC East3rd
Head CoachBrian Schottenheimer
ByeWeek 14W14

Last updated Oct 2, 6:48 PM ET

Dallas Cowboys

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Dallas Cowboys Usage & Opportunity Report 2026

Updated through Week 4 · refreshed every Tuesday

Fantasy production follows opportunity, not the other way around — so this report tracks who's on the field and who the ball is going to, before the box score catches up. The essentials: target share (share of team pass attempts), snap share, and red-zone touches. The premium layer, in each player's expandable profile: first-read share (how often the play is designed for him), air-yards share (30%+ is the alpha-receiver threshold), and expected fantasy points (xFP) vs. fantasy points over expected (FPOE) — xFP is stable, repeatable volume; FPOE is efficiency that regresses. Route share (the % of dropbacks a player runs a route on — the stat that matters most for tight ends), targets per route run (TPRR) and yards per route run (YPRR — the best receiver efficiency stat there is) join the profiles when the league's route data is published. Since 2017, receivers at a 20%+ target share average 15.3 fantasy points per game; the 10–20% group averages 9.8. That cliff is why this table exists.

Pass rate over expected+4.6%2ndThrows more than game situations call for — the volume Lamb and Pickens live on
Red-zone pass rate58%13thBalanced inside the 20 — Williams leads the team with 14 red-zone touches
Neutral pace32.8s14th fastestSeconds per play in neutral situations
Plays per game59.019thOffensive plays a game — league-average volume, so shares decide it
Team xFP / game100.05thTotal expected fantasy points this offense creates — a rising tide for every starter

The Target Tree

All 105 Cowboys pass attempts through Week 4

23.8%Lamb23.8%Pickens17.1%Flournoy11.4%Williams10.5%Ferguson7.6%

CeeDee Lamb 23.8%
George Pickens 23.8%
Ryan Flournoy 17.1%
Javonte Williams 11.4%
Jake Ferguson 10.5%
Turpin/Spann-Ford/Schoonmaker 7.6%
Everyone else 1.9%
No target (throwaways, spikes, batted) 3.8%

The Backfield Split

Who owns which situations — the RB stat that actually predicts the box score.

83.8%Williams10.0%Goodson6.3%

Javonte Williams 83.8%
Tyler Goodson 10.0%
Emari Demercado 6.3%

SituationWilliamsGoodsonDemercado

Early downs63 opps81%11%8%

Third down6 opps67%0%0%

Red zone (in-20)16 opps88%6%6%

Inside the 107 opps100%0%0%

Two-minute drill5 opps40%40%0%

Trailing by 7+26 opps69%19%8%

Share of the backs' carries + targets in each situation. Snap-by-snap splits need the league's participation data, which is published after the season.

22.3Williams weighted opps/game — RB15 in the NFL
19Williams high-value touches (in-10 carries + targets)
8.0Goodson weighted opps/game
+0.2Williams wOpp/g vs. last season — the same role as last season

Why Williams's floor holds in PPR: He keeps 92% of the backfield's targets as well as the early downs, so his catches don't depend on game script — a 57-catch pace. Trailing by 7+, he still gets 69% of the backs' work — no one takes the hurry-up snaps from him.

The Goodson math if Williams misses time: Goodson is next in line by weighted opportunities. A Williams absence projects Goodson to ~63% of weighted opportunities — about 20.7 a game, an RB2 by volume — worth a bench spot in deeper leagues.

Run Direction — carries & yards per carry by gap

3.85 attLeft end
9.08 attLeft tackle
3.436 attMiddle
1.39 attRight tackle
0.52 attRight end

Designed runs only; "Middle" includes runs behind either guard.

The left side is the run game's engine: 9.0 yards per carry behind left tackle and 3.8 off left end — 22% of all designed runs go that way, and all three of Williams's three longest runs came off the left side. Interior volume (36 attempts) does the clock work at 3.4; the left edge does the damage. When the line's left side sits out practice, that's a usage note, not just an injury note.

Where Prescott Attacks

Share of pass attempts & yards per attempt by field zone — through Week 4

5%9.8 YPADeep left
1%23.0 YPADeep middle
6%9.8 YPADeep right

Line of scrimmage · deep = 20+ air yards

36%6.0 YPAShort left
11%6.8 YPAShort middle
41%6.7 YPAShort right

The short middle is the efficiency engine (6.8 YPA). Prescott keeps 89% of his throws under 20 air yards, with the deep left his most explosive zone (9.8 YPA on 5 attempts). Gold = highest-YPA high-volume zone.

Profile	Player	Opportunity (WOPR)	Target share	Snap share	RZ touches	Read
	Javonte WilliamsRB1, 79% of RB touchesRB15 in weighted opps/game, NFL	—touch share 79%	11.4%−7.2 vs W1	75%+5 vs W1	145 · 4 · 5 — leads team	Set & forget
Touch share (RB room)79% Red-zone share (RB room)88% Green-zone carries (in-10)7 Target share11.4% Weighted opps / game22.3 xFP / game17.3 FPOE / game−0.5 Yards after contact / att1.6 The locked-in workhorse. A 88% share of the backs' red-zone work is the RB stat that tracks fantasy points best, and 7 green-zone carries put him at the goal line. Production is running −0.5 against expected, so this is volume, not a hot streak. Bars show percentile vs. all NFL RBs.
	CeeDee LambWR1WR15 in target share, NFL	0.62elite	23.8%−3.5 vs W1	80%steady	32 · 1 · 0	Set & forget
First-read share29.7% Air-yards share37.7% aDOT12.4 End-zone targets3 xFP / game17.1 FPOE / game+6.5 The alpha profile, fully formed. A 37.7% air-yards share clears the 30% alpha threshold, a 29.7% first-read share says the offense is designed through him, and a 12.4-yard aDOT sits in the sweet spot — deep enough for ceiling, not so deep it gets volatile. He's scoring +6.5 points a game over expected — some of that is efficiency that regresses, but the 17.1 xFP floor holds. Bars show percentile vs. all NFL WRs.
	George PickensWR2WR15 in target share, NFL	0.58strong — elite at 0.60	23.8%+9.9 vs W1	82%steady	3 ▲0 · 1 · 2	Set & forget
First-read share29.7% Air-yards share32.4% aDOT10.7 End-zone targets2 xFP / game14.9 FPOE / game−4.6 The alpha profile, fully formed. A 32.4% air-yards share clears the 30% alpha threshold, a 29.7% first-read share says the offense is designed through him, and a 10.7-yard aDOT sits in the sweet spot — deep enough for ceiling, not so deep it gets volatile. He's −4.6 a game against expected: the volume is there and the box score hasn't caught up — a buy signal, not a warning. Bars show percentile vs. all NFL WRs.
	Ryan FlournoyWR3WR45 in target share, NFL	0.36flex range	17.1%+8.2 vs W1	71%−5 vs W1	4 ▲0 · 0 · 4	Starter
First-read share17.6% Air-yards share14.3% aDOT6.6 End-zone targets2 xFP / game10.7 FPOE / game−5.5 The role is arriving before the box score does. His target share has run 12% → 19% → 20% over the last 3 games. Volume that is growing this fast gets repriced the week it scores. He's −5.5 a game against expected: the volume is there and the box score hasn't caught up — a buy signal, not a warning. Bars show percentile vs. all NFL WRs.
	Jake FergusonTE1TE27 in target share, NFL	0.20below startable	10.5%+6.6 vs W1	68%−7 vs W1	41 · 2 · 1	Volatile
First-read share9.5% Air-yards share5.7% aDOT4.3 End-zone targets2 xFP / game8.4 FPOE / game+2.3 The role is arriving before the box score does. His target share has run 6% → 13% → 13% over the last 3 games. Volume that is growing this fast gets repriced the week it scores. He's scoring +2.3 points a game over expected — some of that is efficiency that regresses, but the 8.4 xFP floor holds. Bars show percentile vs. all NFL TEs.
	Dak PrescottQB1QB5 in xFP/game, NFL	—every dropback	—the passer	100%steady	2 ▲0 · 1 · 1	Set & forget
Green-zone carries (in-10)1 Designed-run rate0.8% Scramble rate7.7% aDOT7.9 xFP / game21.5 FPOE / game−0.5 Sack rate2.6% Team pass rate inside the 1056% A pocket passer's profile. 1 green-zone carry and a 7.7% scramble rate: his points have to come through the air, so his weekly range follows the pass volume (QB5 in expected points). Production is running −0.5 against expected, so this is volume, not a hot streak. Bars show percentile vs. all NFL QBs.

How to read this table

Set & forget 20%+ target share or locked bell-cow role — start everywhere
Starter 17–19% target share or a lead back's full workload — weekly lineup play
Flex 15–16% share or a committee lead — matchup-dependent
Volatile under 15% — deep leagues only
Stash the role behind the role
WOPR: 1.5 × target share + 0.7 × air-yards share
+ button: opens the full advanced profile — first-read share, air-yards share, xFP/FPOE — with percentile bars vs. the league

Buy low

Ryan Flournoy

The role is arriving before the box score does. Trade for him this week — not after the two-touchdown game makes it obvious to your league.

+8.2target share pts since W1
10.7xFP per game

Usage trends are one of the core inputs behind our player pricing — Redraft Command re-runs every player's value as these shares move, so a riser like Flournoy gets repriced before your leaguemates notice.

Data: nflverse play-by-play · nflverse snap counts (PFR) · FTN Data charting via nflverse (first-read share) · ffopportunity expected points (xFP). Regular season, through Week 4.

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Common questions

Who leads the Dallas Cowboys in target share?

CeeDee Lamb leads the Dallas Cowboys with a 23.8% target share through Week 4, down 3.5 points since Week 1. George Pickens is second at 23.8%.

See the full usage report

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Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys Usage & Opportunity Report 2026

The Target Tree

The Backfield Split

Run Direction — carries & yards per carry by gap

Where Prescott Attacks

Ryan Flournoy

Explore StatChasers

Common questions

Who leads the Dallas Cowboys in target share?