Fantasy football managers who drafted Ezekiel Elliott in the first round have had to watch Tony Pollard outperform him for much of the past month. Pollard missed Week 14 but has a chance to play in Week 15. How should fantasy managers approach the Cowboys’ backfield in the first round of the fantasy football playoffs?
Update 12/19/21: Tony Pollard is active and will play today against the Giants.
Ezekiel Elliott’s injury status
A few weeks ago, there were reports of the Cowboys shutting Zeke down for a couple of weeks to rest his injured knee. That never happened as Elliott continued to play through it, rather ineffectively.
Heading into Week 15, Elliott’s knee is reportedly feeling much better. He practiced fully all week and carries no injury designation. Zeke should be as healthy as he’s been since sustaining the injury.
Tony Pollard’s injury status
In Week 13, Pollard tore his plantar fascia on a 58-yard touchdown run. The Cowboys said Pollard would be able to play through it last week, but he did not practice at all and ultimately missed the game.
Entering Week 15, Pollard is still dealing with the injury. The good news is he got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday. He’s once again listed as questionable, but there’s far more optimism surrounding his ability to play. I still cannot fathom how someone can play professional football with a torn plantar fascia. Nevertheless, Pollard has a chance to do so.
Update: Pollard is active, but is nowhere near 100%. He is expected to see less than his usual workload.
How should fantasy managers handle Elliott and Pollard this week?
In Weeks 13 and 14, Elliott scored a total of 15.7 PPR fantasy points, finishing as a mid-to-low RB3 in both contests. Despite Zeke’s lackluster production over his past two games, he remains a must-start regardless of Pollard’s status.
The Cowboys are double-digit favorites against the Giants. We can project significant positive game script, allowing the Cowboys to run the ball frequently. Dallas runs the ball 54% of the time when leading by 2 scores or more, and New York allows the eighth-most fantasy points to running backs.
How would Tony Pollard’s active status impact fantasy lineups?
I actually don’t think Pollard’s status impacts Zeke much, if at all. Over his past three games, Elliott has played exactly 64% of the snaps in each. Pollard didn’t play last week, but Zeke’s snap share remained the same. Therefore, I expect him to be used the same way and to the same extent he’s been used for the past six weeks.
The trickier part to navigate is Pollard himself. If Pollard is active, we don’t know if he will have his usual role. We also don’t know how effective he will be. It’s entirely possible the Cowboys mix in Corey Clement. The latter would not eat into Elliott’s workload, but if Clement is taking even a quarter of Pollard’s usual work, it would render Pollard unplayable.
Should fantasy managers start Elliott and Pollard this week?
As I alluded to above, Elliott absolutely needs to be in fantasy lineups. Regarding Pollard, it will depend on your alternatives. Playing him comes with significantly increased risk this week. Even when healthy, he was about a 40% snap share player. Now that he’s dealing with what sounds like a serious injury, there are several risks impacting his possible production.
Pollard could see a reduced snap share and be ineffective as a result. He could aggravate the injury at any point. If your alternative is some dart throw pickup like Royce Freeman or Craig Reynolds, then absolutely start Pollard. However, if you have someone like D’Onta Foreman, Michael Carter, or even Rashaad Penny, I would err on the side of caution and sit Pollard.