The Cowboys disappointed last year on the field, but their fantasy success shouldn’t be overlooked.

Tony Romo continued to be an above average fantasy starter, finishing as the 7th best fantasy quarterback. Laurent Robinson – now on the Jaguars – scored 11 touchdowns during the back half of last year while Miles Austin sat out. Dez Bryant looked unbelievable at times, although he finished without a 20-plus point performance in standard leagues.

It wasn’t a bad season for them on offense. After all, we got to see rookie DeMarco Murray, their running back who averaged 5.5 yards per attempt last season. His season was cut short, and we weren’t able to see a larger sample of what the rookie running back could really do. But his upside looked promising.

Coming into 2012, many fantasy owners are banking on some of these Cowboys to take them to the top of their fantasy league once again. I, on the other hand, am a little more skeptical.

If I had to choose a Dallas receiver, I’d take…

None of them.

Miles Austin, last season when healthy (which wasn’t often), wasn’t close to a fantasy stud. Well, I should say that with the exception of Week 2 against San Francisco, where Austin compiled 32 fantasy points. But aside from that, Austin didn’t have a single 100-yard game in the other 9 games played. He was Romo’s preferred red zone target at wide receiver, which is a good thing, but if you’ve read my analysis on the site, you’d know I hate basing fantasy decisions off of the unpredictability of touchdown scores.

On the other side of the field, if Dez Bryant could stay out of trouble, he would have the potential of being one of the best wideouts in the league. Many question his focus, though. And it’s not worth trying to guess his potential success at this point.

Last year, albeit he wasn’t healthy the whole season, Dez scored 9 times. But had the fourth lowest red zone targets on the team. That’s not good. You don’t want that when a player is as talented as he is. And moreover, he never got over the century mark in receiving during a single game last year. That’s shaky.

I get that Laurent Robinson isn’t there anymore, but I’m staying away from Dallas receivers because I’m going to have to pay a hefty price to get one. They’re both leaving the board in the 4th round in most leagues, which is the same place players like Jordy Nelson, Demaryius Thomas, and Marques Colston are going. I’d probably take any of them over the Dallas’ guys.

The receiver position is too deep to take a chance on two unpredictable players with upside that we can’t truly gauge.

I’m also staying away from…

Tony Romo. If you missed my article on why you should stay away from middle-round quarterbacks, take a look at it. It will explain my stance on a guy like Romo completely.

And may even stay away from…

DeMarco Murray. Simple reason: sample size.

We saw how unbelievable his breakout game was against St. Louis. But when you look deeper into his season, Murray had just about as many games that went unfavorably over the span of last season as he did favorably.

After the breakout game, Murray had four games with 20-plus carries. In two of them, he rushed for a total of 274 yards and a touchdown. In the other two, he rushed for 160 yards and zero touchdowns.

It’s not as though he did unbelievably poorly, but like I said, we don’t have a huge sample size. If he’s going to be inconsistent and unhealthy, he’s most definitely not somebody I want on my fantasy team.

I think his value in drafts right now is just a little high. He’s going right after Trent Richardson, another player that is risky simply because he’s a rookie. Just remember that if you’re going to draft him, you’re going to take on a large risk; a risk that may not have to be made in the early stages of round two.

The one word to describe the 2012 Cowboys is…

Overrated. I sincerely believe that each of the big players on the Cowboys offense are going far too early in the draft. And I also believe that, aside from Romo and Witten, you’re not really sure what you’re getting with them.

If I’m you, I’d pass on Cowboys in this year’s fantasy draft. Romo, as a middle-round quarterback – is bound to finish just a little better than later round ones. Dez Bryant and Miles Austin are just too unpredictable. And DeMarco Murray just hasn’t played enough to show that he’s a consistent back.

read more