Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports How many fantasy drafts have you done this year? The new season is almost upon us, and with it will be a new cast of fantasy studs that help people take home the championship trophy. A new year brings a new outlook and it’s important to know where the meaningful opportunities will be for each team. Before the season starts, here is one critical piece of information for each of the 32 NFL teams. (Note: all stats/rankings mentioned below are based on a half-point-per-reception scoring system.) Arizona Cardinals – When healthy, RB James Conner is a top-10 fantasy back. Since joining the Cardinals, he and Christian McCaffrey are the only RBs to finish in the top 10 in points/game in each of the last three seasons. Atlanta Falcons – Everyone talks about how the slight upgrade at quarterback will help WR Drake London, but Kirk Cousins has also helped some tight ends have big seasons (Jordan Reed and T.J. Hockenson). This could mean big things for TE Kyle Pitts. Baltimore Ravens – Before last year, RB Derrick Henry averaged at least 19 points/game in each of the four previous seasons. Don’t let recency bias hold too much water. He should return to greatness on a high-scoring offense where defenders can’t focus on him. Buffalo Bills – TE Dalton Kincaid is a talented space tight end who just became a target machine. Carolina Panthers – Low-cost investments RB Chuba Hubbard (early season) and RB Jonathan Brooks (late) are a cheap way to steal some easy fantasy points. Chicago Bears – QB Caleb Williams would have to be terrible not to benefit from such a deeply talented WR group. Cincinnati Bengals – RB Zack Moss will be a quiet, but consistent fantasy producer. Cleveland Browns – A recovery season for RB Nick Chubb makes RB Jerome Ford a sneaky good buy. Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys have no threat of a running game. Don’t be surprised if QB Dak Prescott once again has large passing yards and touchdown totals. Denver Broncos – Full health and less competition should finally set the table for RB Javonte Williams to have a strong season. Detroit Lions – In a vacuum, RB David Montgomery is a good fantasy player, but if RB Jahmyr Gibbs re-aggravates that hamstring, he becomes fantasy gold. Green Bay Packers – QB Jordan Love is a good quarterback who has four good receivers. He’s going to light it up. Houston Texans – QB C.J. Stroud has three really good receivers. He’s also going to light it up. Indianapolis Colts – WR Michael Pittman Jr. has been good with Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, and Gardner Minshew. Imagine how good he can be with QB Anthony Richardson. Jacksonville Jaguars – QB Trevor Lawrence has weapons galore, including the underrated target monster TE Evan Engram. Kansas City Chiefs – QB Patrick Mahomes will be a league winner this year. He’s never had an offensive supporting cast this good. His weapons are too many to list. Los Angeles Chargers – RB Gus “Bus” Edwards is the lead dog in a run-heavy Jim Harbaugh offense. Los Angeles Rams – RB Kyren Williams averaged 19.9 fantasy points a game last season, trailing only Christian McCaffrey. No other RB last year averaged over 17 pts/game. Only bad health can prevent him from another monster season. Las Vegas Raiders – With Josh Jacobs gone RB Zamir White’s volume will keep him fantasy relevant. Miami Dolphins – The Dolphins have an uncanny knack for turning RB3s into fantasy studs. Rookie RB Jaylen Wright is their RB3. Minnesota Vikings – WR Justin Jefferson is quarterback-proof. He has elite separation and hands. Be prepared to pounce if people are scared of Sam Darnold. New England Patriots – In a terrible offense, points will be scarce, but RB Rhamondre Stevenson should still see a good amount of work. New Orleans Saints – For the first time in his career, RB Alvin Kamara won’t have a veteran RB2 eating into his volume. New York Giants – Daniel Jones is just good enough to allow rookie WR Malik Nabers to be impactful. New York Jets – WR Garrett Wilson has been waiting for a decent quarterback and now he finally has one in QB Aaron Rodgers. Philadelphia Eagles – There are so many mouths to feed on this offense, but we know that QB Jalen Hurts will be the one feeding them. Pittsburgh Steelers – The departure of Diontae Johnson gives WR George Pickens a bump in targets that could push him into the top 20. Seattle Seahawks – Don’t be surprised if WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and not D.K. Metcalf leads the team in receiving. San Francisco 49ers – As unsexy as he is, QB Brock Purdy has too many weapons around him to keep him out of the top 10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – RB Rachaad White has no competition and sneaky-good receiving volume to not be on your wishlist. Tennessee Titans – The Titans are loaded at WR, making QB Will Levis a late-round superflex candidate. Washington Commanders – All hype is around QB Jayden Daniels, but don’t forget about his number one target, WR Terry McLaurin. He’s going to eat.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images The Dallas Cowboys are fighting history in terms of repeating as NFC East Champions. Usually I say that it doesn’t mean anything, but I don’t know if I can say that I really believe that. To be clear I am not saying that it means a lot, but we are talking about 20 years here. 20 years of anything is not nothing by any stretch of the definition of it all. Just think about how much life happens in 20 years. You can’t dismiss it. What am I talking about, you ask? With the NFL season finally here (sweet potato pie that felt good to say out loud) our ambitions are as tall as ever with the Dallas Cowboys, even if the offseason that got us here was underwhelming. The goal, as it has been for almost 30 years now (even more time than 20), is for them to at long last add a sixth Lombardi Trophy at the entrance of The Star in Frisco. If history is any indicator, we will wind up disappointed. While we are talking about history, it is worth mentioning that it is a stream the Cowboys will have to swim against with regards to one of their more immediate goals. You do not have to win your division to enter the playoffs as we all know, but doing so would be wise for the Cowboys seeing as their last road win in the postseason before the one in Tampa two years ago was literally the 1992 NFC Championship Game. Winning the division guarantees a home game, and even though that did not help at all last year, anybody affiliated with any team will tell you that is step number one. It is a big step for the Cowboys. The NFC East has not had a repeat winner since 2004 Up top was a reference to something that we refer to around this time of year – the fact that the NFC East has not had a repeat division champion since 2004. NFC East Champions, 2004-Present 2004: Philadelphia Eagles 2005: New York Giants 2006: Philadelphia Eagles 2007: Dallas Cowboys 2008: New York Giants 2009: Dallas Cowboys 2010: Philadelphia Eagles 2011: New York Giants 2012: Washington franchise 2013: Philadelphia Eagles 2014: Dallas Cowboys 2015: Washington franchise 2016: Dallas Cowboys 2017: Philadelphia Eagles 2018: Dallas Cowboys 2019: Philadelphia Eagles 2020: Washington Football Team 2021: Dallas Cowboys 2022: Philadelphia Eagles 2023: Dallas Cowboys There are two Super Bowl Champions (the 2007 Giants were a Wild Card team) and plenty of number one seeds sprinkled within that group. Additionally there is a below .500 team that Washington trotted out in 2020 (nobody bothers to bring that up when talking about the Buccaneers’ playoff wins through the Super Bowl that year, but hey, facts and whatever). Needles to say the NFC East has seen basically everything for two decades now. Except a repeat champion. This brings us back to the point up top. Do I believe that the 2005 Giants have anything to do with the 2024 Cowboys? Are the 2010 Eagles in any way tied to the 2024 Commanders? Obviously the answers here are no, but how can we say that this means nothing when it has been 20 years? At most this is all a continued run of weird coincidences impacted by a variety of things that fill every NFL season and we shouldn’t overreact to it in any sort of serious way, but again, it is a strange thing and makes betting on the Cowboys to win the division this year (even if the offseason hadn’t been frustrating) feel a bit scary. On the subject of betting, the Cowboys are not favored to win it at season’s beginning: Odds to win the NFC East at Week 1, according to FanDuel Sportsbook: Philadelphia Eagles…………………………… -140 Dallas Cowboys……………………………….. +175 Washington Commanders……………….. +1100 New York Giants………………………………. +1600 Just because the odds are what they are does not mean that this is impossible by any stretch, but it again adds to the this-doesn’t-feel-all-too-likely-ness of it all. Consider that Dallas is tied for the fourth-best odds to win the NFC and lead the Atlanta Falcons in this regard despite the Falcons being the favorites to win the NFC South, a testament to what we can expect from that division. Odds to win the NFC at Week 1, according to FanDuel Sportsbook: San Francisco 49ers………………………….. +260 Detroit Lions…………………………………….. +500 Philadelphia Eagles……………………………. +600 Green Bay Packers…………………………….. +900 Dallas Cowboys………………………………… +900 Atlanta Falcons………………………………… +1200 For what it is worth, the Green Bay Packers are also second in odds to win their division. Maybe that makes you feel better about last year’s Wild Card playoff loss, but I would bet just about everything in the world that it does not. Do you think the Cowboys will win the NFC East in 2024? Or the NFC? Now is the time to put it on record before everything starts for real.