Fantasy Football: One Breakout Candidate From Every NFL Team

Darren McFadden, RB, Dallas Cowboys

Admittedly, it's tough to find a breakout player on the Dallas Cowboys. They have some established stars -- Dak Prescott, Dez Bryant, Ezekiel Elliott and Jason Witten -- while role players like Cole Beasley and Terrance Williams pretty much are who they are.

So we'll dig a little deeper and roll with Darren McFadden.

First thing's first -- McFadden's only shot at putting up big-time fantasy numbers is Elliott missing time. If Zeke plays, McFadden is strictly handcuff material or waiver-wide fodder. But if something happens to Elliott, McFadden could be a league-winning asset.

It seems like forever ago, but Run DMC was a good player back in 2015, which is part of what made taking Zeke fourth overall in the draft such a head-scratching move for Dallas at the time. Among backs with at least 100 carries in 2015, McFadden finished 19th in Rushing NEP per carry with a clip of -0.01, slightly better than the league average that season.

He turned that solid real-life production into pretty great fantasy numbers, posting an RB13 season in PPR leagues with 193.7 total fantasy points.

I'm not telling you to handcuff Zeke with McFadden -- handcuffing isn't an optimal strategy -- but the soon-to-be 30-year-old McFadden would have immediate fantasy relevance if Elliott misses time either through injury or suspension. On a team without many guys who could surprise us, McFadden is the Cowboys' best bet for a breakout player.