Should You Start Brandin Cooks or Michael Gallup in Fantasy Football Week 12?

After starting the season with just six passing touchdowns through the first six games, the Dallas Cowboys‘ passing offense has produced at an elite level by generating 13 scores through the air over the last four games.

With Cowboys QB Dak Prescott playing some of the best ball of his career over the last month, should you start Brandin Cooks or Michael Gallup in your fantasy football lineup to get some exposure to this Dallas passing game in Week 12? Let’s take a closer look.

Brandin Cooks’ Week 12 Fantasy Outlook

It feels like Cooks has been in the league forever because he has been traded on numerous occasions. At age 30, Cooks is playing for his fifth team, but wherever he goes, he produces.

After a very slow start to the season — catching just nine passes for 73 yards and no scores through the first five games — Cooks has managed to register 20 receptions, 307 yards, and three scores since Week 6.

Sure, this isn’t the elite fantasy production we’ve seen from Cooks in the past, but he still has enough speed and route-running savvy to become a reliable veteran option for Prescott to find in passing situations.

Cooks’ best game this season came against the Giants back in Week 10, where he torched New York’s secondary with nine catches for 173 yards and a score for a monster 32.3 fantasy points in PPR formats… proving he’s still capable of vintage performances on occasion.

Unfortunately, the volume of looks Cooks is seeing on a weekly basis is the biggest concern when considering starting him in your fantasy lineup. He has seen more than four targets in a game just twice all season, which makes his fantasy floor very low in PPR formats.

There are plenty of encouraging signs for Cooks, but he’s still a risky fantasy play who feels a bit too touchdown-dependent to put into the WR2 conversation on a weekly basis.

Michael Gallup’s Week 12 Fantasy Outlook

If we’re going to say Cooks feels like a touchdown-dependent fantasy option, then the same should be said about Gallup in this 2023 Cowboys offense.

At his peak, Gallup was a quality contested catch receiver who could thrive on the outside as a high-end second pass-catching option in an explosive offense. Unfortunately, we just haven’t seen enough signs through the first 11 weeks of the season to suggest he’s going to recapture his magic from the 2019 season, when he finished as the WR22 in PPR formats.

MORE: Fantasy Week 12 WR Start/Sit

Gallup’s most productive game of the season came in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals in a game script where the Cowboys fell behind early and threw the ball 40 times, which has happened only two times all season.

What feels even more concerning is Gallup’s consistent drop in snaps over the last three games. He has been on the field less than 50% of the team’s offensive plays for three consecutive games.

Should You Start Cooks or Gallup This Week?

Both of these players still have enough left in the tank to generate some big performances here and there. Dallas’ matchup against a struggling Washington Commanders secondary this week makes both Cooks and Gallup viable Flex options in deeper PPR leagues.

Personally, I’m going to roll with the player whose usage and production are trending in the right direction over the last month, which makes Cooks the better starting fantasy option for your lineup in Week 12.

Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!