Tag: cooper rush

Fantasy football sleepers to play in Week 16

Taking a look at some potential sleepers to play in Week 16 for fantasy football.

Just two weeks remain in the fantasy football season as the playoffs have gotten underway in the majority of leagues.

Whether you’re looking for a boost to help your playoff lineup or simply looking for some dart throws in daily fantasy, we’ve got you covered on potential sleepers at every position.

Be sure to check out The Huddle’s weekly PPR projections and rankings as well as the start/bench list to help formulate the best lineup possible.

‘Something we’ve got to work on’: Cowboys QB Cooper Rush near top of league in this one dubious stat

From @ToddBrock24f7: Rush has 9 fumbles since taking over as the Cowboys starter. Most of the other players with 9 or more have played twice as many snaps.

There’s been plenty to like about Cooper Rush’s play during his latest stint as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback. Since Dak Prescott went down in Week 9, Rush has gone 3-3 as the starter, completing 60% of his passes, averaging just over 200 yards per game and- perhaps most important- tossing nine touchdowns to only two interceptions.

It hasn’t been terribly sexy, but he’s filled in admirably. Just this week, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer praised the veteran’s experience, calm demeanor and leadership, even his contributions in helping the running game finally get going after a slow start in 2024.

There is one big-ticket item Rush needs to get a handle on, however: keeping a handle on the ball. The 31-year-old has been credited with nine fumbles since taking over in Dallas, a total that’s third-most in the league.

Some have come on shotgun snaps. Others have come on a bad under-center exchange, and Schottenheimer was quick to point out that not all nine fumbles have necessarily been Rush’s fault alone.

No matter who is to blame, it’s dangerous every time it happens.

Rush had two fumbles on Sunday against Carolina, including a botched red-zone play-action option to Rico Dowdle that turned into a Panthers touchdown just one play later.

Since taking over for Prescott, Rush has had at least one fumble in every game except one this season. And though the team has lost possession on just three of them, it’s something Schottenheimer acknowledges needs to stop.

“There’s a technique that you use in terms of where the ball is extended and how you have to ride it,” he explained to reporters this week. “It’s very technical, but [Cooper] was great; he communicated right after the drive and said, ‘It caught Rico’s hip. It’s on me.'”

But Schottenehimer also shared some of the responsibility for what has become a troubling trend.

“We emphasize it, but obviously we’re not doing a great enough job coaching it. We’ve got to coach it better.”

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Again, Rush’s nine fumbles are currently tied for third-most in the league. While it’s fewer than Kirk Cousins and even Baker Mayfield (who the Cowboys will face in Week 16) and the same as guys like Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Lamar Jackson, Rush’s nine fumbles have come on literally half as many snaps as each of those other passers.

Even the Colts’ Anthony Richardson, who also has nine fumbles this year, has played 100 more snaps than Rush.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Rush said Sunday after the team’s 30-14 win in Charlotte. “I’ve got to figure that one out, the zone-read stuff.”

Schottenheimer admitted plays like that one are especially tricky for a backup who’s amassed more time holding a clipboard than staring down live defenses on gameday.

“There’s a decision, right?” the OC explained. “‘Do I hand it? Do I keep it? Do I pull it? Do I pull it and throw?’ There’s a lot of things going through his mind. [It’s] something we’ll certainly continue to emphasize and drill even more.”

This week would be a good time for Schottenheimer and Rush to incorporate those added ball-security drills; Tampa Bay is tied for second place leaguewide in fumble takeaways.

“The fundamentals need to get better and [are] something we’ve got to work on,” Schottenheimer said.

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Panthers fans react to Bryce Young and Jalen Coker’s electric 83-yard TD

Bryce Young and Jalen Coker connected for the Panthers’ longest play of the 2024 season on Sunday.

Down 10-0 near the end of the first half, and with the Dallas Cowboys threatening for more, the Carolina Panthers desperately needed a spark to keep their chances in Week 15 alive. Fortunately for them, that spark came in a flash.

The complementary football head coach Dave Canales has been looking for showed up in the final minute of the second quarter, when outside linebacker DJ Johnson recovered a fumble at Carolina’s own 17-yard line.

That, on the very next snap, would be followed by an 83-yard touchdown connection between quarterback Bryce Young and rookie wide receiver Jalen Coker. Their less conventional scoop-and-score turned what could have been at least a 13-0 deficit into a 10-7 one.

Here’s how Panthers fans reacted to their team’s longest and most exciting play of the season . . .

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This is currently the Cowboys offense’s best chance without Dak Prescott

The Cowboys need Cooper Rush to play within himself and that means conservative. @ReidDHanson looks at the evidence.

Cooper Rush has played in eight games in 2024, starting four while logging a total of 320 snaps. In that time, he’s passed the ball 185 times, completing 112, for a total of 1,008 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. His 48.0 grade at Pro Football Focus ranks him last in the NFL by a rather significant margin and his -0.027 EPA+CPOE composite score backs up such a claim (also last in the NFL).

It’s safe to say at this point the Cowboys know what they have in Rush. Despite banging out two consecutive wins, he’s not a quarterback that elevates a team. And despite calls to open up the offense and take more shots downfield, Mike McCarthy appears to be doing the smart thing with his replacement QB by taking a conservative approach.

The Cowboys opponent in Week 14 begs such a conservative attack. The zone-happy Bengals defense ranks 28th in EPA/dropback, 29th in rush EPA allowed and 30th in total EPA allowed. They are vulnerable to both the run and the pass and as long as Dallas plays within themselves, they should be able to find success against the Cincinnati defense.

In situations such as this it will be tempting for the Cowboys to take shots down the field. That’s not only unnecessary, but it asks Rush to succeed in an area of personal weakness. Based on FTN Data shown by Doug Analytics, Rush has thrown catchable deep balls on less than 30 percent of his attempts this season. He’s also bottom three in attempts and catchability percentage.

PFF tracking shows Rush has attempted 16 passes of 20 or more yards and completed just four of them for a 25 percent completion rate. One of those passes qualified as a big-time throw and one pass qualified as a turnover worthy throw. It’s arguably the biggest inefficiency in his game, making the case for McCarthy to avoid deep passes with Rush at the helm.

Even in the 10–19-yard range Rush has struggled in 2024. His completion percentage sits at just 40 percent and this intermediate range grades as his poorest on the field with him throwing three times as many turnover worthy throws than big time throws.

For as much as the Cowboys running game and defense have struggled in 2024, they are areas Dallas simply has to lean on in order to win games. Combined with a dink and dunk passing attack that plays inside the numbers, the Cowboys are best positioned to win games behind Rush at QB.

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Here’s why Cowboys offensive success is Fool’s Gold, but sustainable

The Cowboys offense has an easy schedule ahead of them so their potential success should be taken with a grain of salt, says @ReidDHanson

Things finally started going right for the Cowboys in Week 12. Even ravaged by injury, the Dallas offensive line was a surprisingly solid unit. They paved the way for Rico Dowdle’s 45 percent success rate rushing and kept quarterback Cooper Rush relatively clean, only allowing one sack and four pressures.

Not surprisingly their success helped pave the way for the first Cowboys win in six weeks. Receivers played efficiently, play callers schemed wisely and role players played their roles effectively. It wasn’t pretty but it was solid and that’s something the Cowboys haven’t even sniffed in over a month.

But can the Cowboys keep things rolling on offense and would that mean good things for the future?

To answer that simply, a little bit of “yes” and a little bit of “no.” The Cowboys beat a good Washington team, but a bad Washington defense. The Commanders defense ranked 26th heading in Dallas Week and looked every bit of the struggling defense they were billed to be. A case could be made their cupcake schedule has only masked their concerns and they’re actually far worse.

Looking ahead at the Cowboys’ upcoming schedule, they face the Giants, Bengals, Panthers, Buccaneers, Eagles, and Commanders. Defenses on those teams currently rank 27th, 29th, 31st, 26th, sixth and 25th, respectively. Only one defense left has an EPA ranking above 25th.

Based on this it’s perfectly reasonable to expect the good times to keep rolling down the stretch. Every opponent but the Eagles rank at the very bottom of the NFL so success isn’t just possible, it’s probably likely.

That’s not to say the Cowboys are about to go on a 5-1 run down the stretch, just that the Dallas offense may finally show some life in it based on low quality defenses they are scheduled to face.

No one should read into upcoming weeks too much because the quality of opponent has dropped considerably. But a winning streak wouldn’t be an unreasonable dream provided the other parts of the team can hold their own as well.

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Commanders stumbled, had a chance, but blew it again

A woeful effort from start to finish.

The Commanders sucked on Sunday.

Well, at least for the first three and a half quarters, Dallas dominated, leading 20-9. Watching the Commanders on Sunday, words like frustrating, aggravating, and infuriating come to mind.

Then, the Commanders pulled off another miracle late; however, they blew the extra point and allowed an onside kickoff touchdown return, falling to the woeful Cowboys 34-26.

Washington missed two extra points; the last one was an absolute heartbreaker.

Twenty-one seconds remained with Washington trailing 27-20 when Jayden Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin, who got a block, turned on the jets and scored from 86 yards, making the score 27-26.

Austin Seibert then missed the extra-point attempt. It was a bad snap, and Seibert, while approaching the ball, had to watch Tress Way get control of the ball and place it down in time. Seibert then pulled the kick left.

Washington now had to attempt an onside kick which was then returned by Juanyeh Thomas 43 yards for the clinching touchdown and the final 34-26 margin.

The Cowboys entered the game with a 3-7 record. Yet the Commanders, who entered at 7-4, were the home team and played a step slow all day and let Dallas take the game to them from the start.

Three weeks ago, the Commanders were 7-2 and the NFC’s No. 2 seed for the playoffs.

Based on Sunday’s performance, Washington is 7-5, having lost three consecutive games and looking progressively worse each game.

Face it, Commanders fans, if not for the lucky ‘Hail Mary,’ this team would be 6-6 and losers of four of their last five. I love this franchise, but that is who they are right now.

Dallas came into today at the very bottom of NFL teams in rushing offense. Its rushing defense wasn’t any better, also one of the worst in the league. The Cowboys were without quarterback Dak Prescott, but backup Cooper Rush completed 24 of 32 attempts for 247 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Two of the Cowboys touchdowns in the final quarter were kickoff returns.

 

Cooper Rush has Cowboys up double digits on Commanders

The Cowboys were outplaying the Commanders in a surprise

Teams that were going in opposite directions switched their paths on Sunday.

The slumping Dallas Cowboys took a 20-9 lead over the Washington Commanders with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Cooper Rush threw a TD pass to tight end Luke Schoonmaker to open the lead to double digits.

Rush had thrown for 247 yards and two touchdowns as the team looked to surprise the Commanders.

This Cowboys starter playing for job in Week 12 with backup breathing down his neck

Cooper Rush is on a week-to-week basis at QB because fan interest in the Cowboys dwindles by the day. | From @ReidDHanson

Dak Prescott is out for the season and Cooper Rush is the Cowboys starting quarterback. It was true the moment Prescott went down with a hamstring tear three weeks ago and it remains true after owner Jerry Jones affirmed as much earlier in the week when he said Rush gives Dallas “the best to win.”

But what was true yesterday and is true today isn’t necessarily true for tomorrow. No assurances were given by Jones that Rush would remain the starting QB beyond Week 12, and if the veteran backup puts up another uninspiring performance against the Commanders, a QB change could be in the cards for the Cowboys.

After passing for just 45 yards in Week 10, Rush bounced back with a 354-yard performance against the Texans a week later. Based on pure yardage his second game looked strong but in an effort that only produced 10 points, it was far from satisfactory. Rush averaged -0.25 EPA/play against Houston posting an embarrassing -12.1 completion percentage over expected (CPOE).

Trey Lance, the QB behind Rush, brings with him extremely modest expectations of his own. At no point in his Cowboys tenure has he looked like a capable NFL QB, and unless the offense fundamentally changes its scheme with him under center, he’s unlikely to be any better than the veteran ahead of him.

What’s working in Lance’s favor is the same thing working against Rush: Mystery. Cowboys’ fans know exactly what they have in Rush. The 31-year-old has played in 32 games with Dallas. He’s a bus driver type who can hit some big passes on occasion but generally needs a strong supporting cast around him to succeed. He had that in 2022 when he went 4-1 as a starter. He doesn’t have that in 2024 as he currently stands winless.

Lance, on the other hand, is more of a wild card. With so little film on record, Lance could perform a variety of different ways if given a chance to start. He may not be the pocket passer Rush is, but his athletic ability adds intrigue to a completely unintriguing offense.

As much as Jones talks about Rush giving the Cowboys “the best chance to win,” Jones’ actions as of late suggest winning isn’t always his highest priority. Fair or not as an accusation, the Cowboys willingly downgraded their roster over the past offseason. NFC East rivals like Philadelphia and Washington took big steps to improve while Dallas took big steps to cut costs. Throughout the last 12 months Jones has repeatedly spoke of the marketability of the franchise and how much he values being in the news.

Creating and maintaining fan interest has been Jones’ biggest challenge in 2024 and it’s a battle he’s currently losing less than a week away from the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving showcase on national television. If Rush can’t get things done at the QB position on Sunday, Lance may very well get the start on Thursday.

Boring is bad word to Jones and the Cowboys offense has been certifiably boring under Rush. Lance may be a disaster but at least he’s not boring.

The Cowboys have become Jerry Jones’ nightmare – boring – putting Cooper Rush on notice and Trey Lance on standby.

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This Cowboy may be the worst to play his position in the entire NFL in 2024

Things have gone from bad to bottom-of-the-barrel worse at the QB position for the Cowboys in 2024. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Things have not been going well for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024. The calendar year started with a chilly, Week 18 road win to clinch the NFC East title in Landover, MD. Nothing good has happened since. The team returned home to be shockingly blown out the water by Green Bay in the wild-card round. The offseason saw free agency malaise, and a failure to bring back their own key guys and no movement for their star players on expiring deals.

When they finally put ink to paper there, injuries began to pile up and a lame-duck coaching staff proved incapable of inspiring the troops. Suffice to say, the Cowboys have earned their 3-7 record. Among the issues for Dallas was runner-up MVP Dak Prescott’s down season, made worse by his season-ending hamstring injury.

Prescott was in the bottom third of NFL quarterback performance this season, but what’s happened since he left has shone a light to how he was keeping things together with duct tape, paper clips and McGyver’s ingenuity.

For his replacement, veteran QB Cooper Rush, is playing like the worst quarterback the NFL has seen in 2024.

Quarterback Adjusted EPA through Week 11

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— Ben Baldwin (@rbsdm.com) November 20, 2024 at 9:05 AM

EPA, or Expected Points Added, measures the impact a play has on the likelihood of scoring. With EPA, yardage, field position, and down and distance all weigh in on what the expected net points would be for the situation. As an example, a first and goal at the one-yard line would represent a higher EP than a third and 10 on your own 20 yard line.

EPA is the difference between the Expected Points (EP) at the beginning of the play compared to the end of the play. It measures the plays impact on the score of the game.

Adjusted EPA factors in the quality of opponent.

Based on his play in the last two-plus games, Rush is the NFL’s worst quarterback in 2024. It’s almost like things couldn’t possibly be made worse by putting Trey Lance in the games.

Cowboys make decision at quarterback ahead of Week 12 at Commanders

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy names his starting QB vs. Commanders.

After a 3-2 start to the season, the Dallas Cowboys lost their fifth straight game on Monday night, falling 34-10 to the Houston Texans at home. Dallas is 0-5 at home, with opponents averaging over 37 points per game.

The Cowboys’ former defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, is now the head coach of the 7-4 Washington Commanders. On Sunday, Quinn’s Commanders host the reeling Cowboys.

With quarterback Dak Prescott out for the season, Cooper Rush has started for the Cowboys under center for the last two weeks. Even though Dallas has scored only 16 combined points in Rush’s two starts, he’ll get the call again this weekend at Washington.

While Rush will start, the Cowboys will have specific packages for quarterback Trey Lance.

Rush has appeared in four career games vs. Washington, including last season. He has one start against the Commanders, completing 15 of 27 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a 25-10 Dallas win in 2022.

Lance is a former No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. The Cowboys traded a fourth-round draft pick to the 49ers for Lance ahead of last season. Lance has appeared in one game this season for Dallas.