Jake

Ferguson

Ferguson played through a calf ailment that had him enter the weekend listed as questionable, ultimately unable to return usable counting stats on a night quarterback Dak Prescott failed to throw for a score for the third time this season. He has now failed to return a solid fantasy score in all five games since the team’s Week 10 bye, with his performance in the first week of most fantasy playoffs here hurting the most. His next chance to return TE1 production comes in a difficult matchup against the Chargers in Week 16.

Brian Schottenheimer said that he was “relieved” that Ferguson will be able to “answer the bell” in a press availability earlier, which strongly points at him playing. No longer at the point of the season where he’s spiking six touchdowns in the span of a month, Ferguson is now more of a low/mid-range TE1 against the Vikings.

Ferguson’s absence is discouraging. It is possible that yesterday’s limited session was because Ferguson suffered the injury in practice. Hopefully, today is just a planned rest day and he can resume practicing tomorrow. The Cowboys face the Vikings’ blitz-based pass defense in Week 15. Having a big-bodied target in the short-to-intermediate field depths would help out QB Dak Prescott.

A limited session this early in the week is nothing to worry about with a veteran like Ferguson. Barring a setback, he should be good to go for Week 15 versus Minnesota. Ferguson is quietly fantasy football’s TE2 this year. That has largely been due to him playing all 13 games so far, but he is also a reliable check-down option on a pass-first offense. He will remain near the top of the TE1 ranks for Week 15.

It was a rough night for Ferguson, who was flagged for multiple penalties on the day and also lost a fumble in the second quarter. Ferguson did come up with a key two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to cut the Lions’ lead to a field goal, but the Lions would counter with a touchdown of their own five plays later. Ferguson has seen five or more targets in each of his last five games but has just one touchdown over that span. He’ll be a fringe TE1/TE2 in Week 15 when the Cowboys face the Vikings.

Quarterback Dak Prescott’s only incompletion when targeting his veteran tight end was a touchdown grab in the third quarter that was called back as Ferguson was unable to get his second foot inbounds after further review. It has now been eight games since Ferguson saw more than seven targets, keeping him heavily reliant on touchdowns for fantasy production with CeeDee Lamb healthy. He should be counted on for another five to seven looks when the Cowboys take on the Lions in Week 14.

It was the most receiving yards Ferguson has mustered since Week 3. He’s faded deep into the background of the Dallas passing offense as George Pickens has emerged as a dominant pass-catching option for Dak Prescott. Ferguson ran a route on 36 of 41 Dallas drop backs and was third in targets among Cowboys pass catchers. Ferguson will only be viable in PPR formats next week against the Chiefs, who have been rather generous to opposing tight ends in recent weeks.

Ferguson’s five looks paled in comparison to the combined 18 targets between CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, although the veteran tight end found paint for the seventh time this season after failing to score in 2024. His weekly target volume is likely to remain modest for as long as both Lamb and Pickens are healthy, but Ferguson’s established red zone role continues to keep him in TE1 territory ahead of a Week 12 showdown with the division rival Eagles.

Fantasy’s overall TE1 through the first half of the season went through a four-game stretch where he scored six times but has since been targeted only eight times in two games. He is likely to continue to go as the team goes with his most recent poor outings both coming in losses where the Cowboys were held to 24 points or fewer. He was targeted in the red zone once in this one but an overthrow from quarterback Dak Prescott in the face of pressure hit off the veteran tight end’s hands and fell incomplete. The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle for Ferguson, who is equal parts unlikely to finish the season atop the tight end ranks as he is to continue his recent downswing in production. Fantasy managers will need a fill-in in Week 10 as the Cowboys head to their bye.

Dallas’ whole play-action scheme was mostly junked against the Broncos, who seemed to be able to get pressure on Dak Prescott whenever they wanted. As a result, Ferguson failed to see the easy targets he’d been getting and disappeared into a fantasy black hole. A disappointing showing to be sure, but we’d still say Ferguson is on the TE1 line against the Cardinals in Week 9.