Team news: Dallas Cowboys

Miles Sanders plans to sign with the Cowboys on a one-year deal.

Related Players: Javonte Williams, Deuce Vaughn

We've got quite the interesting batch of running backs sitting in Dallas now, but none of these names excludes them from going after the position in the Draft. Sanders joins Javonte Williams as two of the least efficient backs in the league over the last couple of seasons, which fits the mold of them bringing back Ezekiel Elliott not so long ago.

Sanders should not be in fantasy consideration and could have a hard time making the final roster, depending on what the final contract looks like.

Former Broncos RB Javonte Williams is signing a one-year, $3 million deal with the Cowboys, per sources. Max $3.5M with incentives.

Related Players: Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn

This likely means that Dowdle will be out of the picture, but his re-signing is still up in the air as it stands. The Cowboys are still (very) likely to grab a running back with decent draft capital, so Williams' fantasy impact is capped, but he can be considered somewhere in the RB3/4 range with good opportunity to open the year.

The Cowboys are shutting down CeeDee Lamb for the final two games. From the team:

"Additional examinations and scans this week on CeeDee Lamb’s shoulder have determined that his injury has now progressed to a point that he will be listed as "Out" for the remaining two games of the season.

"He will undergo a process of treatment and rehabilitation for his shoulder, is not currently expected to require surgery and is projected to make a full recovery."

Related Players: Brandin Cooks, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Tolbert, Jonathan Mingo

Cooper Rush will be left with an interesting cast of characters here; none of which should be plugged into Championship lineups unless you're in a wildly deep league.

The Cowboys’ loss to the Bengals on Monday night dropped them to 5-8 on the season and left them with scant hope of making it to the playoffs this season, but that’s not going to lead to a shift in their plan at quarterback.

That was the word from team owner Jerry Jones on Tuesday morning. Cooper Rush has been the team’s starter since Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury, but there have been questions about whether the Cowboys will take a look at Trey Lance before his contract expires at the end of the season.

The story said Jones has been resistant to playing Lance and that he hasn't changed his mind about who will start against the Panthers in Week 15. Jones added in a quote he thought the team "did some good things out there" against the Bengals, and that he believes Rush "gives us our best chance." Unless things change over the final couple of weeks, it doesn't look like Lance is going to get any kind of chance in Dallas.

Starting in Washington, this is now his third straight week Rico Dowdle taking 70%+ of the carries.

Related players: Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn, Dalvin Cook

The post went on to say Dowdle was averaging 48% of the Cowboys' carries over the course of his first nine games. Pittsburgh was the only week he got more than 57% of the team's carries. We did report, even starting back in summer, that Dowdle was the best RB on the team according to those who cover the Cowboys. Unfortunately for owners, it took some time for Dowdle to become the clear RB1, but for those who own him heading into the playoffs, this is a comforting stat to know. The next question will be what is Dowdle's future with the Cowboys. With so many needs and questions heading into 2025, it's possible Dowdle is back as an overall inexpensive option.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales gave an update on running back Jonathon Brooks’s knee injury at his Monday press conference and it was not a positive one.

Canales said that Brooks tore the ACL in his right knee during Sunday’s 22-16 loss to the Eagles. Brooks tore the same ACL during his final season at Texas and the second-round pick was playing in his third game after being activated from the non-football injury list.

Related players: Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders, Raheem Blackshear, Mike Boone

It's a terrible outcome for what many considered the top RB back at the NFL Draft. Brooks will look to be back before the start of next season, but given how careful the Panthers were with Brooks coming into this season, one can assume they will take a similar path. As the story said, Hubbard went over 1,000 yards against the Eagles, and with Sanders already injured and Blackshear injured during the game, Hubbard was forced to carry the load. He should continue to do so for the rest of the season. The team has Boone on the practice squad, but will likely need to make anther move at the position.

Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is off the injury report and is good to go for Monday against the Bengals.

Lamb is still dealing with an AC joint injury but did practice Friday and Saturday (the Cowboys held a walkthrough Saturday). Lamb has said he’s been dealing with the injury for a few weeks but that he does have full range of motion and should be fine for Monday. He officially has no game designation for the game. Lamb is our WR10 this week.

CeeDee Lamb (shoulder) has no doubts he will play Monday. "It comes with the territory man. It’s about being a baller and it’s about going out there and sacrificing, putting yourself out there for your guys. And that’s what I'm doing. As far as Monday goes, I’ll be fine by then."

Related Players: KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Tolbert, Brandin Cooks

The Cowboys have a great MNF matchup against a Bengals defense ranking 30th in WR aFPA, so this is great news for Lamb managers. Consider him a volume-based WR1 for Week 14.

Cowboys ruled out Jake Ferguson for the Thanksgiving game vs. the New York Giants due to his concussion. His replacement, once again, will be Luke Schoonmaker.

This was expected, but it could have been a nice matchup for the No. 2 pass-catcher. Schoonmaker is a little less exciting but is worth a TE stream for desperate managers.

Long list here, but this is what I’ve gathered:

Guys I expect to play: Brandin Cooks, CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Smith, Cooper Rush

Guys I don’t expect to play: Jake Ferguson, Caelen Carson (possible IR), Zack Martin, Asim Richards

Gonna be close: Trevon Diggs, Eric Kendricks, Marshawn Kneeland

Related players: Luke Schoonmaker

Ferguson didn't practice Tuesday and remains in protocol, while Rush and Lamb both logged limited sessions. Cooks was also limited. Harris expects Rush, Lamb and Cooks to all play on Thanksgiving against the Giants. If Ferguson is out, Schoonmaker makes for a nice option as a replacement TE in fantasy lineups.