Fansided

3 fantasy breakout stars from Bucs-Cowboys season opener

By Rucker Haringey

TAMPA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 09: Antonio Brown #81 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reacts after beating the Dallas Cowboys 31-29 at Raymond James Stadium on September 09, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 09: Antonio Brown #81 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reacts after beating the Dallas Cowboys 31-29 at Raymond James Stadium on September 09, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
TAMPA, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 09: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys carries the ball during the second quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on September 09, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

Fantasy owners shouldn’t overreact to the season opener, but here are 3 players from the Bucs/Cowboys game that have drastically increased their value. 

Cowboys fans were disappointed to see Dallas fail to spring a big upset against the Buccaneers on Thursday night, but fantasy owners were thrilled to see big contributions from players on both teams. The challenge for fantasy players is to identify which performances were one-game wonders versus meaningful trends that will persist all season long.

This piece identifies three players who showed out in Week 1 and should be trusted to outperform their preseason expectations for the remainder of the regular season. The emphasis here is on identifying players who are undervalued at the moment and should be targeted in trades and/or waiver wire transactions.

The first name on fantasy owners’ shopping lists should be Dallas’ talented signal-caller.

3. Dak Prescott

Prescott is owned in the vast majority of leagues already, but the fact that he threw the ball 58 times on Thursday night should boost his value. If he continues to get that kind of work it’s easy to envision a scenario where Prescott finishes the year as a top-10 quarterback with an outside shot to land in the top-5.

The quality of pass-catchers at his disposal only adds to his value. The starting wide receiver trio of Amari Cooper, CeeDeeLamb, and Michael Gallup is one of the most talented groups in the entire NFL. Add in Blake Jarwin as a solid option at tight end and Ezekiel Elliott as a top-tier pass-catcher out of the backfield and it’s obvious that Prescott is set up for big-time success.

The more subtle reason to bet on Prescott’s personal success in 2021 is the potential rebound performance of the team’s offensive line. It held up reasonably well against Tampa Bay’s talented front last night and should benefit from getting Zack Martin back next week. Prescott is going to put up big numbers with time to throw the football. He’s an interesting trade target for quarterback-needy fantasy teams at the moment.

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