The Cowboys lost some serious momentum heading into last season when they traded perennial all-world EDGE Micah Parsons to the Packers. While Dak Prescott and the team's high-flying offense more than held up their end of the bargain, the NFL's single-worst scoring defense was ultimately too much for this group to overcome.

Fantasy Football Team Preview for the Dallas Cowboys

Of course, new year, new Cowboys hope, and there's actually some reason for optimism on the defensive side of the ball this time around:

• New DC Christian Parker is the latest Vic Fangio disciple to earn his own crack at running a defense. Hey, it can't be any worse than whatever Matt Eberflus was doing last year, right? RIGHT???
• Dallas spent each of its three top-100 picks helping fortify their maligned defense, selecting Jim Thorpe Award winner Ohio State S Caleb Downs with the 11th overall pick, UCF EDGE Malachi Lawrence at pick No. 23 and Michigan EDGE/LB Jaishawn Barham at pick No. 92.
• The front office also made an attempt to improve things before the draft, trading for Packers EDGE Rashan Gary and signing Cardinals S Jalen Thompson.

Throw in an offense that returns all 11 starters—and you have the potential for the Cowboys to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2023.

What follows is a fantasy-focused team preview of the Dallas Cowboys ahead of the 2026 season. Make sure to check out Fantasy Life's rankings hub for updated player ranks all year long.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

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Is Dak Prescott basically a discount Joe Burrow in fantasy land?

• QB1: Dak Prescott (QB12)
• QB2: Sam Howell
• QB3: Joe Milton

Pretty much! Our fantasy football projections actually have Dak throwing for more yards (4,249 vs. 4,102) than Mr. Burrow. Their overall fantasy projections are within 5 points of each other. While it'll be tough for either to catch the top-ranked dual-threat aliens capable of rushing for 10 touchdowns, weekly overall QB1 upside persists for both pocket assassins thanks to their respective stud top-2 receivers and potentially porous defenses.

Dak goes in a pocket good QBs

Is the public underestimating a boom season from Javonte Williams?

• RB1: Javonte Williams (RB15)
• RB2: Jaydon Blue (RB72)
• RB3: Malik Davis (RB83)
• RB4: Phil Mafah

It was easy to be wary of Williams entering 2025. Sure, there wasn't a ton of competition, but many metrics painted the ex-Bronco as one of the league's worst RBs in two seasons following his devastating 2022 knee injury. If Williams couldn't get anything going in a solid Denver offense, why would things be that different in Dallas?

Javonte Williams is the clear RB1 in Big D

Can both CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens ball out (again)?

• WR1: CeeDee Lamb (WR5)
• WR2: George Pickens (WR10)
• WR3: Ryan Flournoy (WR86)
• WR4: KaVontae Turpin
• WR5: Jonathan Mingo
• WR6: Marquez Valdes-Scantling

CeeDee Lamb's career peak (to this point) occurred in 2023, when he caught a league-high 135 passes for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns—good for an overall WR1 finish in fantasy land.

However, things haven't been quite as fruitful over the past two seasons. A 2024 shoulder injury, combined with Dak's season-ending hamstring injury, didn't help matters, nor did an early-season high-ankle sprain in 2025. Still, we've been looking more of a low-end WR1 than a world-beater for the better part of the last 48 months: Lamb has finished as the WR8 in PPR points per game during each of the past two seasons when controlling for games when he exited early.

Are Lamb and Pickens the best WR duo in the NFL?

Is Jake Ferguson setting up to (again) be a quality late-round TE?

• TE1: Jake Ferguson (TE11)
• TE2: Luke Schoonmaker
• TE3: Brevyn Spann-Ford

On the one hand, Jake Ferguson's 82-600-8 receiving line was good enough to work as the TE11 in PPR points per game.

On the other hand, he boasted bottom-5 efficiency and largely benefited from averaging 18.6 PPR points per game in four games without Lamb compared to just 9.4 with him.

Beware the two sides of Jake Ferguson

Predictions for the 2026 Dallas Cowboys

Win total prediction: At the risk of buying into the yearly offseason Cowboys hype a bit too much: I like OVER 9.5 wins for a team that (again) looks to boast one of the game's best overall offenses and *should* have a defense closer to average. Reminder: The Cowboys peeled off 12 wins in three consecutive seasons with a healthy Prescott prior to last season.

Bold fantasy call: Javonte Williams takes advantage of one of the best offensive environments that a running back can ask for by scoring 15 touchdowns and (again) working as a top-12 fantasy back.

Last season predictions: Over 7.5 wins (damn you, stupid clock operator), and George Pickens will catch double-digit touchdowns (9, but I'd say the top-6 fantasy finish makes this one a win. Cool? Cool. Thanks. I need all the help I can get here).

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