Cowboys vs. Saints Picks, Lineup Tips for Daily Fantasy FanDuel, DraftKings
Taysom Hill's arrival into the New Orleans Saints starting lineup brings up plenty of intrigue, but there is no guarantee he will be successful on Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys.
Hill is taking over for Trevor Siemian in an offense that just produced six points in a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Buffalo Bills.
The six points and 190 total yards were not good enough for New Orleans' standards, and those numbers should have forced Saints head coach Sean Payton to reconsider his starting quarterback.
Hill is an intriguing player to have for daily fantasy football contests, but he might not come close to Dak Prescott's production.
Prescott will get Amari Cooper back for Thursday's game. Cooper is expected to travel with the team to New Orleans, per ESPN's Ed Werder.
Even if Cooper is not at 100 percent, the combination of him and Prescott could put up much better numbers than Hill and any of his wide receivers.
Use Caution with Taysom Hill
Taysom Hill has attempted more than 20 passes in a single game on three occasions.
All of those instances came during the 2020 season when Drew Brees was out injured. He had four touchdowns and one interception in two games against the Atlanta Falcons and one start versus the Philadelphia Eagles.
Three starts against teams that had high draft picks in the 2021 NFL draft is not enough of a sample size to prove what Hill can do as a starting quarterback.
Hill has had most of his success as a runner, but he can't be a run-first player against Dallas' defense on Thursday night.
The New Orleans quarterback has a depleted wide receiver and tight end corps to work with, so he may not be as accurate as he was last season when he completed over 70 percent of his passes in three starts.
Hill will at least have Mark Ingram to support him in the backfield. Ingram was a full participant in practice, while Alvin Kamara is still questionable with a knee injury.
If Kamara plays, Hill's DFS value will go up because he can call on Kamara to be his top pass-catcher out of the backfield.
Even if Kamara is healthy, Hill might not be the quarterback to start on Thursday night. Dak Prescott is the better quarterback by miles and is getting one of his top targets back.
Show Trust in Dak Prescott, Cowboys Wide Receivers
Dak Prescott should be the smart and popular DFS quarterback play on Thursday night.
Prescott and the Cowboys are coming off a 33-point output in a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Prescott threw for 375 yards and two scores without Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb on the field. He is expected to get Cooper back for the trip to New Orleans.
Prescott and Cooper will be a popular lineup combination, but it is worth building around them because of how often the two combined this season. Cooper has 44 receptions, 583 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
After Cooper, you should look to one of Michael Gallup, Cedrick Wilson or Noah Brown to fill in your DraftKings or FanDuel lineups.
Gallup and Wilson both had 100-yard performances against the Raiders, while Brown had six catches on nine targets for 53 yards.
New Orleans allowed 248 passing yards to Buffalo last Thursday, and it conceded over 240 passing yards to seven of its opponents this season.
Prescott should put up some impressive numbers that lead to him and at least one of his wide receivers being the top DFS scorers from Thursday's game.
Roster Tony Pollard
Tony Pollard is a must-start in DFS lineups.
The Dallas Cowboys running back can hurt the New Orleans defense in a variety of ways out of the backfield.
Pollard had 10 carries for 36 yards, four catches for 32 yards and a kick return for a touchdown in the Week 12 loss to the Raiders.
For Thursday's purposes, Pollard is a lower-salaried version of Alvin Kamara who will likely put up better numbers than the Saints running back if he plays.
Pollard has been called upon in both facets of the offense all season. He has 29 catches on 31 targets and 100 carries for 531 yards.
Pollard's effectiveness inside the Dallas offense is a major help to Prescott, and he could be used at a high rate on Thursday to splinter the New Orleans defense that has to focus on Cooper and the other wide receivers.
At minimum, Pollard offers five to 10 DFS points. His ceiling will be much higher if he converts the high usage into a touchdown or two.
Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.