Dak Prescott Fantasy Football Outlook for 2026: An Under-Appreciated Late-Round QB

Here are the per-game fantasy football projections—powered by Xfinity—for two notable signal callers for the 2026 fantasy season:

QB1: 36.1 pass attempts, 24.4 completions, 255.5 yards, 2.1 TD, 19.3 FPPG
QB2: 35.6 pass attempts, 23.9 completions, 265.6 yards, 1.8 TD, 19.0 FPPG

Pretty, pretty close, right? QB1 is Joe Burrow. QB2 is Dak Prescott. Burrow continues to be drafted about two full rounds ahead of Prescott in fantasy drafts. And this isn’t to say that Burrow is a bad selection or anything. We’re talking about someone who can easily lead the NFL in both passing yards and touchdowns.

But so can Prescott.

There have been a lot of parallels between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys in fantasy, which is why I’m comparing Prescott and Burrow. Both teams have an elite wide receiver duo, pass-first schemes, questionable defenses and quarterbacks who can legitimately throw for 5,000 yards. And I fully understand why Prescott doesn’t draw as much hype as some other trendy fantasy quarterbacks. He’s 33 years old and the rushing is declining, while other quarterbacks are on more of an upward trajectory. But if I’m waiting on quarterback in my drafts, the veteran remains an ideal target.

Dak Prescott 2026 Fantasy Football Outlook

No Thanks, I’ll Pass

When it comes to fantasy football, we often talk about volume a lot for running backs, but it obviously applies plenty to quarterbacks, too.

Prescott has certainly been no stranger to a lot of passes.

He missed most of the 2020 season with a fractured ankle, but from 2021 on, Prescott has been one of the busiest quarterbacks in all of football. From 2021-2025, Prescott ranks sixth in the league in both pass attempts per game (35.2) and dropbacks per game (38.5). During that span, Prescott has been one of the most productive and efficient passers in the league:

262.2 passing YPG (5th)
1.96 passing TD (3rd)
5.6% TD rate (4th)
36.4% 1D/Att (9th)
18.4 FPPG (9th)

The Cowboys rank 11th in neutral-script pass rate during that stretch (57.6%), but they rank fourth in the league since 2023, when now head coach Brian Schottenheimer became the team’s offensive coordinator. Of course, Mike McCarthy was still mostly calling plays then, but during his first year as Dallas’ head coach this past season, Schotty provided us with a fantasy-friendly offense once again.

Last year the Cowboys ranked second in plays per minute (2.1), while their neutral play clock of 11.81 seconds actually led the league. Only the Chicago Bears ran more plays per game during the regular season than the Cowboys (64.6), boosting their already strong fantasy options. Prescott actually led the NFL in pass attempts with 20-30 seconds left on the play clock (78), giving us both pace and volume on a weekly basis. Of course, Dallas’ poor defense definitely played a factor in their offense having to keep their foot on the gas. The Cowboys coughed up a league-leading 2.8 points per drive, while also allowing touchdowns on 33.3% of drives, the highest rate in football.

Entering the 2026 campaign, the defense looks much better on paper. Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary have reshaped the defensive line, transforming what was once an inviting run defense into a suddenly strong unit. If opposing offenses are forced to air the ball out against the Cowboys, it could lean towards more potential track meet matchups, which we love for fantasy. But regardless, Dallas was going to improve on their league-worst defense no matter what this season. Still, I don’t think having the 32nd-ranked defense or the 15th-ranked defense will change Schottenheimer’s tendencies very much. This team is going to rely on the right arm of Prescott.

An Elite Supporting Cast

Throughout his career, Prescott has been surrounded by some pretty good wide receivers. Dez Bryant, Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb were/are all pretty damn good.

But the Cowboys’ 2025 wide receiver room truly leveled up.

We know how good Lamb is. Since entering the league in 2020, Lamb ranks third in receiving yards, fourth in receptions and 11th in touchdown catches. He’s elite and a bona fide top-10 wideout. But when Dallas traded for George Pickens, they truly unlocked a second elite wide receiver, giving the Cowboys arguably the top duo in all of football. Throughout his time in Pittsburgh, Pickens was mostly deployed as a stationary, vertical “X” wide receiver, often relying on size and ball skills to make plays. And because he’s immensely talented, Pickens made plenty of splash plays down the field. He was a good wide receiver with the Steelers.

The Cowboys helped him become great.

During his three seasons in Pittsburgh, Pickens ran go routes 31.4% of the time, the ninth-highest rate in all of football during that span. His 43 targets and 760 receiving yards off go routes were both the most in the league, too. But Pickens had to work so hard to get the football, as the Steelers simply viewed him as a vertical, field-stretching, contested-catch wideout. Pickens ran in routes just 6.2% of the time during his Steelers tenure, including just 2.8% during his final season.

Dallas clearly understood the assignment.

In Pickens’ first season with the Cowboys, he ran in routes a career-high 11% of the time, while any in-breaking route made up 38% of his usage. In his final season in Pittsburgh, just 27.7% of his routes were either slants, in, posts or crossers. On those routes last year, Pickens averaged 7.9 yards after the catch per reception, the fifth-most among wide receivers, while only Puka Nacua had more receiving yards (501). Dallas letting Pickens shine was obviously great for his career, but was also a massive boost for Prescott.

How impactful was Pickens for Dak? Well, his presence was much needed with Lamb missing four games, as well as leaving a fifth early. Prescott still managed to average 267 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns and 22.9 fantasy points in four games with Lamb sidelined last year. And with Lamb simply off the field last season, Prescott didn’t see a drop-off:

69.1% CMP
10.4 Yd/Cmp
6.8% TD rate
0.55 fantasy points per dropback

This isn’t to say that the Cowboys don’t need Lamb. Of course they do. But it does show that having two top-12 wide receivers can simply make things a lot easier for a quarterback. And when Lamb and Pickens were both on the field, Prescott’s yards per attempt (8.1) and yards per completion (11.9) both climbed. Dallas’ passing attack is obviously going to run through Lamb and Pickens, hopefully for years to come. But it doesn’t stop there. The Cowboys have one of the league’s best WR3 options in Ryan Flournoy, who filled in admirably for Lamb last season, averaging 63.1 receiving yards and five receptions in six games where he ran at least 60% of the routes. Then there is the reliable tight end Jake Ferguson, who isn’t going to take the top off the defense anytime soon. But in this offense, Prescott doesn’t need him to. Just give him a safety blanket in the short/intermediate areas and convert on third down.

Should You Draft Dak Prescott in 2026 Fantasy Drafts?

Prescott is coming off a season where he ranked second in dropbacks (654), second in attempts (600) and third in passing yards (4,552). He was fantasy’s QB9 on a PPG basis (18.4), though that jumps to 19.5 points per game if you remove Week 18, when he dropped back just 11 times before Dallas let Joe Milton play.

He is once again likely to contend for the league-lead in passing, though it’s no secret that Prescott leaves plenty to be desired in the rushing department. But I do think 200 rushing yards and a few scores are within the range of outcomes. His scramble rate did climb by 2% this past season, for whatever that’s worth.

Most of my fantasy drafts end with my starting quarterback being selected in Rounds 8-10, which is right where Prescott comes off the board. So it’s no coincidence he’s one of my favorite targets. And if you question the ultimate ceiling for Prescott, he still goes late enough that you can pair him with a second quarterback a few rounds later. He may be entering year 11, but Prescott is showing no signs of slowing down.

Yeah. Here we go.

Players Mentioned in this Article

DakPrescott
QBDAL
PPG
18.2
Proj
303.4

Published Aug 23, 2026, 4:00 AM ET