Preseason Week 3 Fantasy Football Game Recap: Dallas Cowboys vs. Las Vegas Raiders

• Jalen Tolbert wins the fourth wide receiver spot: The Cowboys rested almost everyone who has won a roster spot, including Tolbert.

• DeAndre Carter also wins a fourth wide receiver spot: Carter seemed like an odd fit in Las Vegas as yet another slot receiver, but that hasn’t stopped him from being their top backup.

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Jalen Tolbert wins the fourth wide receiver spot: The 2022 third-round pick had a disappointing rookie season, but things are looking up for his second year.

• Tolbert was inactive in three of his first five games and all of his last five in 2022.
• He reached double-digit routes run in only two games, leading to two receptions for 12 yards over his entire season.
• Dallas made minimal changes to its wide receiver room this season, swapping out Noah Brown for Brandin Cooks and adding Jalen Brooks in the seventh round of the draft.
• Tolbert, Brooks and KaVontae Turpin played the entire first half of last week’s preseason game and were the primary options for the fourth receiving spot.
• There were reports earlier this week that Tolbert had locked down the role, per Stephen Jones, and his sitting in this game further cements that.

DeAndre Carter appears locked into the WR4 role for Las Vegas: Carter was among the veterans who didn’t play in this game.

• Las Vegas tended to rest some older players and play younger ones, regardless of where they were on the depth chart. However, Carter rested while veterans Phillip Dorsett, Kristian Wilkerson and Keelan Cole Sr. played, showing Carter is ahead of those players on the depth chart.
• Carter appeared to be ahead of those players after last week’s game. He saw playing time within the first minute of the game and was done playing around the start of the second quarter. Dorsett was the only other player who wasn’t a starter and stopped playing sometime before the fourth quarter.
• It’s interesting that Carter is locked in, considering three of the top four players on the depth chart are known for playing in the slot.
• Jakobi Meyers, Hunter Renfrow and Carter all played at least 55% of their snaps in the slot last season, all for different teams.
• Third-round rookie Tre Tucker is also very likely to win a roster spot, leaving Dorsett, Wilkerson and Cole fighting for one roster spot, if that.

Miscellaneous Notes

• The Cowboys rested quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush, running backs Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn, wide receivers CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin, and tight ends Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot.
• Dallas traded for Trey Lance on Friday, and he didn’t play in the game.
• Running back Malik Davis had been fighting for the backup job but now might not make the roster. The Cowboys rested three running backs, and undrafted rookie Hunter Luepke started instead of Davis.
• Josh Jacobs signed a new one-year contract with the Raiders earlier Saturday, but he didn’t play in this game.
• Las Vegas also rested quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer, running backs Josh Jacobs, Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden, wide receivers Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, Hunter Renfrow and DeAndre Carter and tight end Austin Hooper.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.