Tony Pollard finished the 2021 season as the most popular running back on the Dallas Cowboys roster. Playing second fiddle to Ezekiel Elliott, Pollard finished the season with 169 touches for 1056 yards. Pollard finished second to all running backs in yards per carry with 5.5, but only scored one touchdown. Pollard’s fantasy impact for 2022 will come down to an increased role to begin the season.
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2022 Fantasy Football Outlook: Tony Pollard
2021 Season Recap
Pollard finished the 2021 season as RB28 with 162.8 total fantasy points, doing this as the number two back in Dallas. Injuries to Elliott and Cowboys receivers gave Pollard the opportunity to see an increase in touches. Most would argue that Pollard was the best runner in Dallas. He averaged 1.3 more yards per carry than Elliott and although Elliott had eight more catches, Pollard finished with 50 more receiving yards on the season. The numbers and eye test would indicate that Pollard is the overall better player. But Elliot still received most of the goal line carries and that’ll be the difference for Pollard in 2022.
2022 Season Outlook
With Pollard entering a contract year this is the perfect time for him to fully breakout. He has always been considered a lottery ticket if Elliott were to ever miss significant time. But as last year will indicate he doesn’t need that to be a viable RB2/flex option in fantasy. With the departure of Amari Cooper and no significant upgrades at the receiver position rumors have circulated that Pollard could see significant time as a slot receiver this year. No way to tell if that’s true until training camp gets started but after CeeDee Lamb and Dalton Schultz, Pollard is Dak Prescott’s third best option in the passing game. With Michael Gallup still recovering from an ACL injury he suffered last season Pollard will see increased work to begin the year. But he will need increased work in the red zone for a breakout to fully take place. Elliott finished with 10 rushing touchdowns while Pollard only finished with one. That’s a difference of 60 points, giving Pollard half of that would have bumped him up to RB22.
Average Draft Position
Going into last season Pollard’s preseason ADP was RB45 and he finished as RB28. Expect Tony Pollard to take another leap like this is in play this fantasy football season. He is currently being taken as RB31 as a seventh-round pick. That seems like the perfect spot for him and will be excellent value if he sees a rise in goal line carries. Currently, Damien Harris and Kareem Hunt are going ahead of Pollard. Neither of those guys has the upside that Pollard does and if an Elliott benching or injury occurs Pollard has top-three upside.
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