Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season is finally here and the campaign will kick off on Thursday night with the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Dallas Cowboys at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
The spotlight of the football world is on the Cowboys in the aftermath of the Micah Parsons trade and there’s genuine curiosity into how they will perform against the reigning Super Bowl champions to open the season. The offense will feature a handful of returning faces, one of which being tight end Jake Ferguson. He enters the season with an ADP (average draft position) in the top 15 of both standard and PPR formats according to FantasyPros and will be relied upon as one of Dak Prescott’s top passing targets
Below, we’ll go over Ferguson’s outlook in fantasy football for Week 1.
Fantasy Football analysis: Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson
After finishing as a top-10 fantasy tight end in 2023, Ferguson took a step backwards last season with 59 receptions for 494 yards and no touchdowns. Injuries were a driving factor behind this as he ended up missing three games during the campaign while his starting QB Prescott missed the second half of the season with a hamstring injury. He still finished tied for 12th in receptions among tight ends and that’s something to keep in mind if you drafted him in PPR leagues.
He signed a four-year contract extension with the Cowboys in the offseason, so his position as Dallas’ top TE option has been solidified for the foreseeable future. Whether or not he can creep into the elite tier of TE’s around the league remains to be seen.
Start or sit in Week 1 standard leagues?
Sit. Ferguson will have a tough challenge on his hands right out the gate as he’s going up against an Eagles squad that yielded a league-low 591 receiving yards to tight ends last season. Even if the underdog Cowboys are pressed into more passing situations in the second half, he will still have a difficult assignment on his hands navigating the middle of the best defense in the entire NFL. Unless you’re in a deeper league and have limited options, I’d sit Ferguson for Week 1.
Start or sit in Week 1 PPR leagues?
Sit. Even if Ferguson does receive a high target share from Prescott right out the gate, it most likely won’t be enough to satisfy managers who decided to give him the start.
