Preseason Week 1 Fantasy Football Game Recap: Dallas Cowboys vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Zay Jones plays ahead of Christian Kirk: Kirk was almost always on the field in 12 personnel last season, but both Calvin Ridley and Jones played ahead of him today.
Tank Bigsby plays with the starting offense: Most rookie running backs are far down the depth charts, but Bigsby is the only rookie back to play with all of the normal starters so far this preseason.
Jake Ferguson takes the lead for the Dallas Cowboys’ top tight end: Ferguson rarely played on third downs last season, but he’s overtaken Peyton Hendershot as the primary receiving tight end.

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Jacksonville Jaguars @ Dallas Cowboys

Christian Kirk restricted to the slot: Kirk was an every-down receiver last season, but the Calvin Ridley addition has reduced his role.

Kirk had played 89% of snaps in 12 personnel last season, with Zay Jones playing 65%.
Most expected Kirk to remain in 12 personnel with Ridley, but it was Jones playing in 12 personnel Saturday.
Both Ridley and Jones took snaps in 13 personnel, which was typically either Tim Jones or Zay Jones last season.
The Jaguars were around league average in how often they used 11 personnel last season, so this could result in a substantial decrease in snaps for Kirk.
Luckily, that decrease will mostly be on run plays, but it will also lead to fewer pass routes similar to this game.

Tank Bigsby played one snap with the starters: Bigsby has been one of the most hyped players during training camp, but that only resulted in one snap with the starters Saturday.

He played on a third-and-1, which was the only short-yardage situation with the starters.
This is a good sign he will take short-yardage situations in the regular season, which could snipe some touchdowns away from Travis Etienne.
JaMycal Hasty received more snaps with the starters in passing situations, but once the second team came in, Bigsby consistently saw offensive snaps.
The third-round pick ran nine times in the first half for 52 yards. That is the second-most rushing yards by a player in the first half this preseason thus far.
Considering the rookie running back who was picked before him (De’Von Achane) and the running back picked after him (Roschon Johnson) were fifth and fourth on their respective depth charts, any playing time with the starters this early is a good sign.
There is a good chance Etienne remains the primary starter all season, but everything is trending toward this being a committee rather than Etienne being a potential top-10 fantasy running back.

Jake Ferguson leads the Cowboys’ tight ends: Ferguson was Dallas' starting tight end and played the majority of snaps.

He received most early down snaps last season when Dalton Schultz wasn’t playing, so that part wasn’t surprising.
Peyton Hendershot was typically the tight end on third downs when Schultz wasn’t on the field, but Saturday, Ferguson saw the first third-and-long snap and took more of the third down snaps.
This makes him a sleeper tight end considering how good Cowboys tight ends have done in the past in fantasy football.
It was a little concerning that the four plays Dallas took him off the field were all pass plays. This is worth monitoring and could limit his upside.
Dallas spent a second-round pick on Luke Schoonmaker, who had a foot injury coming into the league. He’s been limited throughout training camp which should keep him lower on the depth chart for now, but he could mix in more as the season progresses.

Miscellaneous Notes

Jaguars second-round rookie Brenton Strange received three plays with the starters, but they all came in 13 personnel rather than Strange playing in place of Evan Engram or Luke Farrell.
Cowboys Malik Davis has the early lead for the Cowboys’ backup running back job, but they rotated by drive with Rico Dowdle playing more in the second quarter. Rookie Deuce Vaughn didn’t play until later in the game.

Table Notes

Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.