Tony Pollard is entering his fifth year in the NFL looking for a large payday. The running back was franchise tagged after his pro bowl season in 2022. Pollard was RB8 in 2022 and is looking to improve on that finish in 2023. With the Dallas Cowboys backfield belonging to Pollard, what is his fantasy football outlook in 2023?
Tony Pollard Fantasy Football Outlook 2023
Tony Pollard 2022 Season Review
Pollard was one of the breakout running backs in 2022 after receiving extended playing time. Pollard finished as RB8 and RB9 in points per game. 1,378 all-purpose yards and 12 total touchdowns on a Cowboys offense that finished top five in points per game. Pollard received extended playing time after Ezekiel Elliott struggled with injuries and overall play in 2022. Zeke missed two games due to injury in 2022, weeks eight and ten.
Tony Pollard
RB2 in FPPG (22.0) Weeks 8-16.
Pollard finished RB8 in 2022 despite playing less than 50% snaps in 8 games…
Pollard ranked 2nd in yards per carry (5.2) on the season behind only Aaron Jones.
— Joe Orrico (@NoExpertFF) June 19, 2023
During that two-game stretch, Pollard averaged 137 yards and two touchdowns per game. He was RB3 during that stretch averaging almost 28 PPR points per game. Week 8 is when Pollard started seeing extended playing time, even after Elliott returned. Weeks 8-16 Pollard averaged 22 PPR points per game and was RB2, he also led the league in total touchdowns during that stretch. Pollard outscored Elliot even though he trailed Elliott in carries and rushing touchdowns.
Tony Pollard 2023 Season Preview
Tony Pollard is entering 2023 as the lead back for the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys cut Ezekiel Elliott on March 15th, he has yet to be signed by any team. There has been talk that he could return to Dallas but that hasn’t happened yet, so we’ll pretend it won’t happen. There are 231 carries, 876 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns that are available since Elliott is gone. Elliott was top 10 in the NFL in redzone carries, yards, and top two in touchdowns. The current backup running backs for the Cowboys are Ronald Jones and Malik Davis. It remains to be seen if they will make any more signings but Pollard’s work should continue to increase in 2023.
Despite receiving only 232 touches, Tony Pollard managed to finish as the RB8 position in PPR formats last year.
It is worth noting that none of the other fantasy RB’s in the top-12 had fewer than 270 touches.
Interestingly, Ezekiel Elliott had more touches (248) than Pollard… pic.twitter.com/yHQzkzCUtx
— RetroSports (@RetroSportsHQ) June 28, 2023
There has been talk in the fantasy community about Mike McCarthy having a negative impact on the Cowboys offense. McCarthy has talked about wanting to throw less and run more in 2023. While that may be a negative for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb; that is a big positive for Tony Pollard if that happens.
mike mccarthy's offensive approach is probably pretty good for tony pollard pic.twitter.com/Rxrp8m6tI1
— Denny Carter (@CDCarter13) June 6, 2023
Another positive for Pollard is that he should see a boost in targets in 2023. The Cowboys are losing 196 targets between Zeke, Dalton Schultz, Noah Brown, & T.Y. Hilton. The Cowboys did add Brandin Cooks, but Pollard should see more targets than the 55 he received in 2022. Tony Pollard should see some negative touchdown regression in 2023, he scored 12 touchdowns on 232 touches last season. The previous three seasons he scored 10 touchdowns on almost 400 touches. Expect fewer touchdowns in 2023.
ADP
Tony Pollard is currently going as RB9 at the end of round two. Some running backs going ahead of Pollard are Nick Chubb, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs. I prefer Pollard over Jacobs and Henry, due to the fact that he is the lead back on a top 5 offense. I personally would not be taking Pollard at this cost because I’d rather load up on wide receivers early. But if you take a wide receiver in round 1 getting Pollard in round 2 would be a great start to a draft.
Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
