Dallas Cowboys - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Jamison Crowder or Dez Bryant?

by Mike Rose

11/29/17

NFL

Dallas Cowboys

Dez Bryant

An NFC East matchup is set to occur at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, for Thursday Night Football when the Dallas Cowboys welcome the Washington Redskins into town for the first matchup between the teams since Week 8 when the ‘Boys claimed a 33-19 win.

In that meeting, Redskins wide receiver Jamison Crowder outshined counterpart Dez Bryant, hauling in nine passes for 123 yards while the Oklahoma State product had a measly 39 yards on only four catches. This time around, I foresee a similar result as the Cowboys’ struggles are likely to continue.

Fantasy Matchup: Jamison Crowder (10.0 PFP) vs. Dez Bryant (11.0 PFP)

Crowder has averaged 8.66 Dober Fantasy Points per game, which is less than Bryant to date, so he enters this Week 13 matchup as a one-point underdog. But the Dallas offense has been struggling ever since Ezekiel Elliott finally stopped appealing his suspension, so Dober players may want to avoid the Cowboys wideout.

For the season, Crowder has 561 receiving yards and one touchdown and is averaging 4.6 catches and 56.1 yards per game. He’s coming off of his biggest game of the season with seven receptions for 141 yards and one touchdown, good for 24.6 Dober Fantasy Points. That touchdown was his first score of the season in what was only his second 100-yard performance of the year. But he has at least seven receptions in three of the last four games he’s been targeted and 70-plus yards in the last four contests in which he’s recorded a reception.

As the No. 40 wideout in fantasy football, Crowder will be going up against the No. 28 defense against wide receivers in a very favorable matchup. The Dallas defense has given up 348.3 yards per game of total offense and 19.0 fantasy points per contest to wide receivers.

Meanwhile, Bryant has struggled along with the rest of the Dallas offense in the wake of Elliott’s suspension. He’s racked up only 578 yards and four touchdowns, averaging just 4.82 receptions and 52.55 yards per game. Fantasy football’s No. 23 ranked pass catcher hasn’t scored since Week 7. On Thursday night, he’ll have a rematch with cornerback Josh Norman, who had him on lockdown in Week 8. Norman is the leader of Washington’s No. 6 ranked fantasy defense versus wide receivers.

Neither Crowder nor Bryant is having a great season. But when looking at who to start on your Dober Play Cards, it feels like the obvious choice here is Crowder. I can’t stress the struggles of Bryant and the Cowboys offense without Elliott enough. Not having him is essentially the equivalent of the Packers not having Aaron Rodgers, or so it appears. Dallas also has injuries on the defensive side of the ball. With that being said, go with Crowder for your Dober Play Cards because I know I am.

Week 13 Fantasy Projection: Jamison Crowder (+1) vs. Dez Bryant