Dallas Cowboys - Fantasy News

Should I Start Dak Prescott in Week 8?

by Derek Norton

10/24/17

NFL

Dallas Cowboys

Dak Prescott

Dallas Cowboy Dak Prescott is one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league right now. In three games in October, he has nine passing touchdowns and two rushing scores. He’s now fifth in the league in touchdowns through the air, which is even more impressive considering three of the four quarterbacks ahead of him have played one more game.

The Mississippi State product will try to keep the streak alive when the Cowboys face the Redskins in Washington this week.

Why Should I Start Dak Prescott?

Prescott’s hot stretch includes a Dober winning streak as well. He has surpassed his Week 8 projection (20) in each of his last four games. That also means he has gone over his projection four straight times. Though this is his highest projection of the season, he has the proven ability to surpass it.

The Redskins will be playing on a short week, and Philadelphia Eagle Carson Wentz just lit them up for four touchdowns. They’ve also given up a couple of good rushing games to mobile quarterbacks. Alex Smith picked up 56 yards and a touchdown in Week 4 and Wentz picked up 63 yards Monday night. Prescott had a rushing touchdown in each of his games against the Redskins in 2016.

Washington’s secondary is dealing with quite a few injuries, too. Josh Norman didn’t play Monday night, while Bashaud Breeland was active but played with a knee injury. Rookie backups Fabian Moreau and Josh Holsey also suffered injuries Monday night. The prospect of a depleted secondary is good news for Prescott.

Why Should I Bench Dak Prescott?

A potential problem with Prescott is his reliance on touchdowns. While he ranks highly in scores through the air, he’s 16^th in passing yards per game, and his season high is 268 yards. If other Cowboys get in the end zone, Prescott doesn’t pick up enough yards to make up the difference. For example, in his road game against Washington last year, he threw for 292 yards—the third-highest total of his career. However, he didn’t exceed 20 Dober points because he had one rushing touchdown and no passing scores. The matchup could prevent him from freely scoring for the fifth time in a row.           

Though the Redskins just got torched on national television, quarterbacks not named Carson Wentz have struggled against them. Wentz is the only passer to have a multi-touchdown game (he has two) and a 300-yard game against Washington. Subtract the Wentz games and opposing quarterbacks have four touchdowns and four interceptions.

Prescott has beaten up on some bad pass defenses this year. Four of the six teams the Cowboys have played are in the bottom half of the league in passing yards allowed per game (Green Bay, Arizona, San Francisco and New York Giants).

Four of their opponents are also in the bottom 10 in passing touchdowns allowed (Denver, San Francisco, Arizona and New York Giants). Washington is at or near those pass defenses statistically but, again, Wentz skews the numbers quite a bit. Other quarterbacks haven’t done well.

Should I Make Dak Prescott a Week 8 Fantasy Starter?

Yes. Though Washington has been mostly good against quarterbacks, the potential absence of Josh Norman puts Prescott over the top. His history of rushing touchdowns against the ‘Skins is also a bonus. The projection is high, but Prescott is worth the risk.

Week 8 Fantasy Prediction: Dak Prescott Over 20 DFPs