RADIO
The Dallas Cowboys will face off against the New York Giants in Week 7 in a pivotal NFC East matchup. Major fantasy football implications have arisen this week for the Cowboys in all aspects of their offense.
Dez Bryant did not travel with the team to New York on Friday, and was officially ruled out on Saturday for the Week 7 matchup. For Bryant owners, you will have to wait at least another week for your star receiver to be throwing up that "X."
What does this mean for the rest of the Dallas pass catchers? A whole lot. Matt Cassel will be getting his first start in the NFL since last season when he was on the Vikings and will be replacing a dreadful Brandon Weeden. At this point it would be very hard to trust Cassel, as one can assume he will be shaking off some rust. Thus far, with Bryant out of the offense there has been no clear cut wide receiver to start in your lineup as targets and receptions have been very evenly distributed across the board. Insert Jason Witten here.
This season (and historically) the New York Giants have a very rough time guarding tight ends in pass coverage and their pass defense ranks among the worst in the NFL in 2015. Without a healthy Dez, look for Cassel to find old reliable (Jason Witten) over the middle as a security blanket for most of this contest. Just to add a little more confidence in that decision; Witten caught eight receptions for 60 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1 against the G-Men. Look for Cassel to find Witten early and often and start him as a low end TE 1.
The Cowboys running game has some issues as well. Joseph Randle has not been the feature back they hoped with his fumble problems (and below average pass blocking) and Darren Mcfadden (Run DMC) has been utilized more on passing downs. Christine Michael has been talked about a lot and has gained some buzz in potentially earning a bigger role this coming week.
For Christine Michael owners it is worth waiting to see how much he will be involved in the offense before giving him a starting nod. The only reason to start him at this point would be if you are having injury/bye week issues as a flex option only. Don't expect a huge breakout performance just yet.
