The Dallas Cowboys Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was, well, ugly to say the least. Their offense struggled mightily to move the football, and star quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a thumb injury that will keep him out for the foreseeable future. Things may get worse before they get better for Dallas this season.
It's clear that the Cowboys still have some weapons on their roster that should help them move the ball in Prescott's absence. CeeDee Lamb is a top tier wide receiver in the league, Dalton Schultz has emerged as a strong tight end, and Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are a dangerous running back duo. But they may struggle to produce with Cooper Rush taking over now that Prescott is on the sideline.
For fantasy football owners, playing anyone on the Cowboys is going to be risky business until Prescott returns or until Rush proves he's a competent backup. But there is a solid wide receiver sleeper option floating around in the free agent market who could help fantasy owners out later on in the season. Let's identify this sleeper option and see how he could help your fantasy team out this season.
Cowboys Week 2 fantasy football sleeper
WR Michael Gallup
Michael Gallup continues to work his way back from a torn ACL he suffered in Week 17 of the Cowboys 2021 season. He didn't play in Week 1 against the Buccaneers, and his presence was sorely missed on offense for Dallas. Gallup seems unlikely to play in Week 2, although he did take part in 7-on-7 drills in practice yesterday afternoon. Even if he doesn't play on Sunday he still has upside as a sleeper option in most fantasy football leagues moving forward.
Let's start with a broad view of the Cowboys offense. Dallas traded away Amari Cooper this offseason with the intention of making Lamb their top wide receiver target this season. While that's the case, they also are going to need Gallup to be a solid secondary wide receiver option alongside Lamb for their offense to be able to perform at its peak capacity.
In Week 1, the Cowboys struggled to get anything going without Gallup. Lamb drew a ton of attention from Tampa's secondary, and then Prescott was forced to leave the game early. Without Prescott, we won't truly know how good Dallas' offense can be this season, as Gallup figures to play a big role in the offense once he returns. But how much he will be able to do with Rush now under center is unknown.
What we do know is that when Gallup is on the field, he is a very good wide receiver. Gallup has struggled with injuries throughout his career, and ended up getting boxed out of snaps in 2020 with the emergence of Lamb, but he figures to play a big role now that Cooper and Cedrick Wilson are no longer part of the offense.
For fantasy owners, this is important to remember, even if Gallup doesn't play in Week 2. He will be the Cowboys second option in the passing game behind Lamb when he's healthy, and his presence could help Dallas' offense open up in a way it couldn't in Week 1. Gallup will take attention off of Lamb, while also being able to make plays of his own on the outside for Dallas.
Despite practicing this week, Gallup isn't expected to play for the Cowboys in Week 2. If you have space to add him to your roster this week, though, now would be the time to do so, because chances are he will be good to go after missing this game. Gallup is available in over 50 percent of leagues right now; that won't be the case once he takes the field again.
Even with Rush under center for the next few games, he's going to have to throw the ball to somebody, and Gallup figures to be one of his top targets alongside Lamb and Schultz at tight end. His production may not be what it will be when Prescott is playing, but Gallup still figures to command a decent target share and volume of yardage with Rush passing to him.
Gallup isn't going to be a sleeper pick that immediately pays off for fantasy owners; if he was, he wouldn't be considered a sleeper option in the first place. But he has WR2 upside if he can stay on the field and assert himself alongside Lamb in the Cowboys offense, especially once Prescott returns. Adding Michael Gallup to your roster may not seem like a necessary move, but he could end up being one of the biggest steals on the waiver wire right now.
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