QB Kenny Pickett
Kenny Pickett left A LOT to be desired in his first playing time in week four. However there were things to like about his performance. First of all he attempted 13 passes with just 3 passes not completed…to his own team. Actually not one of of Picketts pass attempts fell to the turf below. He tossed three interceptions, but managed to also collect 2 rushing touchdowns.
He mss as moved the offense well, averaging over 9 yards per pass attempt. This prevented the defense from keying on the run game like they had been. Pickett is traditionally a low 60% passer at the college level. If not for his huge senior season we might have been talking about a 3rd round pick. He had just 39 TD passes before throwing 42 more in 2021. He also managed to keep his interception numbers low.
Ultimately the point is that Pickett isn’t a passer that typically will hurt his team by making big mistakes. I believe week four was the exception to his rule of protecting the ball and this will show going forward when he gets back to a 2-1 touchdown to interception ratio the rest of the way. His performance in week 5 solidified this thought when he was tasked with throwing 52 passes completing 34 and cutting his ints to just 1.
RB Deon Jackson
Jackson was an undrafted free agent just a season ago from Duke. Last season as a rookie he appeared in just 9 games collecting 13 carries for 31 yards and 1 touchdown.
This season in 5 games he has collected 15 carries for 59 yards, catching all four of his targets for 29 yards. He filled in admirably for the injured Jonathan Taylor in a Thursday night victory over the Denver Broncos in week 5.
He was however asked to split carries with the Colorado kid himself, Phillip Lindsay the CU alum, and former Broncos runner who hasn’t impressed as of late. On Thursday he clearly looked like the less efficient of the two backs, something that bubbled to the surface after leaving Denver.
Jackson could be emerging as a must have handcuff for Taylor as long as he is banged up. Also Taylor’s absence in turn makes Jackson a solid one week option in place of an injured back on your roster, or a bye week replacement as long as Taylor stays on the sideline. Keep an eye on Jackson’s touches as Taylor returns to health.
WR Noah Brown
Noah Brown, not CeeDee Lamb has emerged as the highest graded target for the Cowboys in 2022. In some twisted sense of Jerrah’s World Logic, he wanted Lamb to earn the number one role.
Which in turn has meant that Brown too has gotten his fair share of chances to earn that role. He is firmly second on the team in targets with 27, to CeeDee’s 42. However behind these two there is a steep drop off in target share. In fact Lamb and Brown have combined to eat up over 54% of the targets for the Cowboys offense.
However despite this, and the eventual return of Dak Prescott, Brown is currently banged up, and with Gallup returning to the lineup his target share could take a hit, but at the same time, he will receive less and less attention from defenses. He has already set career highs in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns in 2022 through just four games. In week 5 Brown logged 1 reception for 5 yards due to injury.
TE Will Dissly
If you need a solid one week starter at tight end, Will Dissly is your guy. His injury history scares me away from relying on him as anymore. The main thing with Dissly is he makes his targets count.
During his entire career, he has been targeted 108 times in 45 career games. He has caught an amazing 81.4% of passes thrown his way, for a total of 88 receptions. This is important because he is TE2 to Noah Fant in Seattle.
However through just four games, Dissly has collected 12 targets, catching all of them for 116 yards and 3 touchdowns. So far this season he has scored 35.6 points but is rostered in just 15% of leagues. Meanwhile players like Darren Waller, David Njoku, and even Kyle Pitts haven’t produced as well but are all rostered 79% or more. In fact just 11 players have scored more fantasy points than Dissly at tight end.
In week five, Dissly finally tarnished his perfect catch percentage allowing one of three targets fall to the dirt. On the season he has caught 14 of his 15 targets in five games. Producing 137 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Closing Words
This week’s waiver wire watch list is an interesting list of young players, and veterans alike. Dissly is a name fantasy owners know well, while Noah Brown was a role player previously and not on the fantasy radar, 2022 has changed everything for him.
Then we have the newcomers. Rookie QB Kenny Pickett, and RB Deon Jackson. Talk about different paths. Pickett was the only quarterback selected in round one. Jackson spent last season on the Colts as a depth piece but didn’t find a role until injury forced two backs above him out of the game. Can he continue to find a role or is he a one hit wonder?
