Jake

Ferguson

Ferguson committed two uncharacteristic drops against the Buccaneers, the second of which resulted in a game-sealing interception to push the Cowboys to 2-3 ahead of a Week 6 meeting with the Packers. Now held to 43 yards or fewer in five consecutive games, Ferguson is relegated to a touchdown-dependent TE2.

He was chipping a bunch against Texans’ EDGE tandem, so the line isn’t super surprising. He did manage a key fourth-down catch on Dallas’ go-ahead final drive of the game. He’ll look to regain his low-end TE1 juice next week against the Buccaneers.

Ferguson continues to make the most of his limited targets. Despite seeing just nine targets in his last two games, the veteran tight end has turned three of those into scores. Ferguson hauled in a 19-yard touchdown catch from Dak Prescott in the third quarter against the Ravens, but was otherwise held to just four yards on his other four targets. The touchdowns are encouraging, but we will need to see more targets before we can elevate Ferguson into TE1 territory. He’ll be a boom-or-bust TE2 next week against the Texans.

Ferguson connected with Dak Prescott for a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter when he broke free in the secondary for an uncontested score. After a recovered fumble by the Cowboys in the third quarter,, he and Prescott would link up again for a 12-yard score to put the Cowboys up 27-13 in a game where their team never trailed. This was a far more encouraging outing for Ferguson, who posted a disappointing 2-6-0 line in Week 1 against the Giants. He’ll be on the TE2 radar in Week 3’s game against the Ravens.

The Cowboys were dominated in both time of possession and total offense on a night the Giants converted 9-of-10 third downs, resulting in the poor showing in the box scores for the veteran tight end. Ferguson’s stark fantasy splits when both CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are healthy remain a concern for fantasy managers that invested a middle-round pick in his services, something that a home matchup against a forgiving Commanders defense could remedy. Even so, Ferguson is nothing more than a middling TE2 in Week 2.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, the Cowboys now have $33.2 million in salary cap space this year. They also reworked DT Kenny Clark and CB DaRon Bland’s deals. Ferguson’s $7.25 million base salary was turned into a signing bonus. For fantasy purposes, this does not alter Ferguson’s standing. The front office could have a personnel move in mind, though. Stay tuned.

None of the Cowboys’ starters were asked to do much today, but Ferguson was targeted once in the red zone on a play that he dropped. He’ll end the season with 82 catches on 102 targets for 600 yards and eight touchdowns. The eight touchdowns and 82 catches were career-highs for Ferguson, and his 102 targets tied his career high. Ferguson came up big for Dallas when CeeDee Lamb was out with an injury and totaled six touchdowns in four weeks from Weeks 4-7. Ferguson just recently agreed to a contract extension with Dallas, so he’ll be back next season and could be a TE1 option in fantasy depending on what the Cowboys do with impending free agent George Pickens.

Ferguson probably isn’t in line for major work in the finale as he has just 10 targets in his last three games, but the calf injury he tweaked in Week 17 won’t hold him out here. Ferguson would be a low-end TE1 if we could count on four quarters of Dak Prescott. Since we can’t, he’s probably in the TE2 range.

Ferguson aggravated his old calf injury during his team’s Week 17 game and was unable to practice yesterday. He now has a chance to play in Week 18. Whether the Cowboys allow him to play is a separate issue. The 26-year-old tight end is under contract through 2029.

Ferguson departed in the third quarter with a calf injury and was promptly ruled out for the remainder of the contest. It will be Brevin Spann-Ford operating as the primary tight end for the Cowboys for the final frame. Ferguson caught 1-of-2 targets for a six-yard touchdown prior to departing.