The Dallas Cowboys will face the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Dak Prescott.
Is Dak Prescott Playing in Week 8?
Prescott is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Cowboys’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Dak Prescott in Week 8?
In today’s NFL, any quarterback who doesn’t offer upside with their legs is walking a thin line between viable and liability. Prescott is typically thought of as a QB who has enough mobility to pick up a few points when the opportunity presents itself, but that simply isn’t the case anymore.
Over his past seven regular-season games, Prescott has averaged 28.9 pass attempts for every rush, and he’s totaled three yards on the ground over his past three contests.
Like it or not, Prescott is essentially a pocket-locked quarterback these days, which has resulted in just one fantasy finish this season better than QB10. His passing TD rate and EPA per dropback are both pacing for the worst marks of his career — numbers that I don’t think will bounce back in a significant way any time soon.
What is it that a quarterback like this needs? We’ve seen Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins do it in the past, both with the benefit of a feared running game and receiver depth, two things that Prescott simply doesn’t have.
The 49ers handled him with relative ease last October (153 passing yards with three interceptions). While I’m not forecasting struggles at that level on Sunday, I never had a thought of ranking Prescott as a reasonable starter in one-QB formats.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Dak Prescott’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 8
Prescott is projected to score 14 fantasy points in Week 8. This includes 193.1 passing yards, 1.4 passing touchdowns, and 0.6 interceptions. It also includes 2.1 rushing attempts for 7.9 yards and 0.1 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Dak Prescott’s Week 8 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.Â
Conference Championship QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (at KC)
2) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. WAS)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at PHI)
4) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. BUF)
Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers Insights
Dallas Cowboys
Team: Dallas beat Cleveland by 16 points in Week 1. Since then, they have a 2-3 record with a -58 point differential.
QB: Brock Purdy threw 17 passes on Sunday with Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Jauan Jennings all off the field. He only had 14 career pass attempts with his top 3 WRs off the field before that, including playoffs.
Offense: Dallas has converted just 37.5% of its red zone trips into touchdowns, putting it on pace to be the worst Cowboys team of the 2000s (current low: 38.5% in 2002).
Defense: The Cowboys have the worst run defense in the league by EPA this season.
Fantasy: Rico Dowdle has taken over this backfield, and with the Cowboys owning the lowest opposed loaded box rate, we should have running lanes moving forward.
Betting: Since the beginning of last season, the Cowboys are 5-0 ATS on extended rest (Week 7: bye), covering three of their last four games by at least 15 points.
San Francisco 49ers
Team: Don’t forget that it took a little time for this team to get into form last season – they opened 5-3 before rattling off six straight wins after their Week 9 bye. After this game, San Francisco takes their bye.
QB: Brock Purdy’s yards per pressured pass attempt are down 18.3% from a season ago, and he faces off against a defense this week that ranks fifth in pressure rate.
Offense: The 49ers have converted just 45.2% of their red zone trips into touchdowns this season, their lowest rate since 2018 (41.2%).
Defense: The 49ers allow a league-high 9.5 yards per pass to the slow this season largely because those slot routes are extending down the field (11.1 aDOT, fourth highest).
Fantasy: Brandon Aiyuk (46.9%) is easily the team leader in target rate on the perimeter. If we view Deebo Samuel and George Kittle as the primary targets with Aiyuk now done for the season, it’ll be the receiver who assumes that usage. This season, Samuel has been targeted on 38.9% of his perimeter routes, while Kittle’s rate sits at a predictably low 2.5%.
Betting: The 49ers have covered six straight games against the NFC East (Week 5, 2023 vs. DAL: 42-10 win as a 3.5-point favorite).
