| | | | Sunday, October 11, 2020 | | Injuries are a fact of life in the NFL, and that has never been more true than in 2020, but that still doesn't make it any easier to see Dak Prescott go down the way he did Sunday. One of the true stars of the NFL, on pace for a historic season, Prescott suffered a gruesome looking ankle injury that required immediate surgery and seemingly all but guarantees an early end to his season. | | How good has Prescott been this season? Despite leaving in the third quarter Sunday, his 1,856 passing yards represent the fourth-most in NFL history through five games. Now, the Cowboys have to move on without Prescott, with Andy Dalton set to take over at quarterback, and Fantasy players will have to as well. | | This is a big loss for the Cowboys, and it's going to have wide-reaching ramifications for Fantasy well beyond Week 6. We'll recap everything else you need to know about from Week 5 Monday morning, but for now, here's my breakdown of the impact of Prescott's injury as well as your early look at the top waiver-wire options for Week 6. | | | | | | Life without Prescott | | For those of you relying on Prescott for your Fantasy team, it's a loss, sure, but the nature of the quarterback position makes it so that it's the easiest one to find help at. In my early look at the waiver wire, I suggest Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kirk Cousins as your top Week 6 streaming options, and streaming might be the best way to go, at least for now. Finding quarterbacks who can drop 25 points in any given week in most one-QB leagues is easy enough, after all. | | But, if you are looking for more of a long-term replacement — and I don't think either Fitzpatrick or Cousins really are — your best option might be Cam Newton. He hasn't played since Week 3 and is currently on the COVID-19/Reserve list, and we obviously don't know when he's going to be back. However, by all accounts he is asymptomatic, so it's not out of the question he will be back after the Patriots impromptu Week 5 bye. Newton was playing at a high level before the illness, and with his bye in the rear view mirror, he gives you one edge over most other quarterbacks — you won't have to worry about bye weeks again. The same could be said for Matthew Stafford , who has been a bit of a disappointment but should be better with Kenny Golladay further removed from his hamstring injury. | | Some other options to consider of the buy-low variety are Matt Ryan (who gets Julio Jones back next week, hopefully) or even Lamar Jackson, who has been a pretty big disappointment so far and is coming off just 17 points in Week 5. | | As for the impact on the Cowboys, well this is why they got Andy Dalton to back up Prescott. He's not Prescott, and there should be a dip in performance at QB, but he's a more than capable backup — and it's not inconceivable he could be a top-12 QB. Amari Cooper should remain a borderline No. 1 option, CeeDee Lamb has pretty clearly established himself as a solid WR2, and Michael Gallup is a high-upside WR3, though obviously a new quarterback introduces some uncertainty about how targets will be distributed. | | My expectation is that Dalton at QB will probably lead to less aggressive play calling overall, which should be good for Ezekiel Elliott, but I would also expect the targets to be more concentrated than they have been. That should be enough to sustain the Fantasy relevant players here, with Dalton Schultz perhaps the biggest question mark. | | | | Week 6 Early Waiver Wire Targets | | | | There aren't any obvious must-add running backs for Week 6 right now — though Dalvin Cook literally just left Sunday night's game, so it might end up being Alexander Mattison, who would be a top-12 RB if Cook were to miss significant time, but who is also 72% rostered and may not be available in your league as a result. Of course, Cook hasn't been ruled out, so we'll have to see what happens — and I'll have an update in Monday's newspaper. | | However, there's no shortage of passing game contributors worth adding. That includes a few quarterbacks and tight ends on my early waiver-wire targets list, but it's especially about the wide receivers. Specifically Chase Claypool, who looks like he might have emerged as Pittsburgh's No. 1 receiver with a massive Week 5. But he's not alone — Travis Fulgham came out of nowhere Sunday to emerge as a potential contender for the Eagles' No. 1 spot. Claypool is the priority here, but Fulgham is one of a few wide receivers who will be worth a look on waivers in Week 6. | | Find the rest of my early waiver-wire targets for Week 6. | | |
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