In Sunday night’s Showdown, the Dallas Cowboys visit the Minnesota Vikings. For a breakdown of this game, check out Rich Hribar’s Fantasy Football Worksheet.

Dak Prescott is expected to be a game-time decision, so much of this slate is up in the air until we know if it will be him or Cooper Rush. The Cowboys have multiple studs who people would love to roster with Prescott at the helm, but their projections and popularity will dip if he is ruled out.

Strategy

While our strategy should depend on Prescott‘s availability tonight, we can plan ahead for either outcome. If he’s rolled in, the line will move back towards a pig them, perhaps with the Cowboys as a slight favorite. This will increase the projection for Cowboys players and decrease it for Vikings. So for a basic level of strategy, we can build more Vikings heavy if he is in and do the opposite if he is out. His receivers might be the most affected, and should be far less popular if he sits out, allowing us to use them for more for differentiation.

if he is ruled out, we have access to Cooper Rush at a very low salary, which should encourage the field to spend up for top plays like Dalvin Cook, Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson. There will be significantly less Cowboys stacks in general, especially with a QB CPT, and very few Dallas onslaughts.

Cook projects to be the most rostered, 14–18% CPT and 63–70% total. Jefferson might be next if Prescott misses, over 12% CPT and 50–56% total, but if Prescott starts then Amari Cooper could be second most popular. My favorite contrarian plays are K.J. Osborne, Tony Pollard, Cedric Wilson and Alexander Mattison.

DK Values

  • Alexander Mattison ($1400) – should have more opportunities if Dak misses or the Vikings dominate
  • K.J. Osborn ($5000)

DK Leverage

  • Cedrick Wilson ($4000)
  • Blake Jarwin ($2000)

DK Build Ideas

  • Max 1 DST, Max 1 K
  • Max 2 depth WR/TE/RB
  • Max 1 dart throw group (or 1 per team if MME)
  • Negative boost same team RBs
  • If CPT QB, include one depth option in stack 
  • If CPT RB, negative boost opposing DST/K
  • If CPT WR/TE boost team QB and force at least 1 QB (either team)
  • Cumulative ownership under 250%
  • Leave salary unspent 

FD Values

  • K.J.Osborn ($8000)
  • Dalton Schultz ($10,000)
  • Tyler Conklin ($7000)

FD Leverage

  • Alexander Madison ($7500) – Overpriced compared to DK
  • Cedrick Wilson ($7500) – WR3 on underdogs with the possibility of a backup QB

FD Build Ideas

  • No K or TE at MVP
  • Focus on 3-2 build construction
  • No solo CPT in 1-4 construction
  • Negative boost opposing QBs (Lineups with both only win 30%)
  • If WR CPT, boost QB
  • QB is overused but RB and WR are underutilized at MVP
  • Don’t stack 3 pass catchers from the same team
  • Don’t force the max salary

For more optimizer build rules to consider, check out the list for each DK and FD here.