FRISCO, Texas — Matt Bowen’s fantasy note on the Dallas Cowboys in ESPN’s 2026 NFL team previews, published Sunday, is that Javonte Williams should not be overlooked in an offense that scores as much as this one does.
Bowen, an ESPN analyst, wrote that Williams averaged 15.2 fantasy points a game last season and found the end zone 11 times.
“A downhill hammer as a runner,” Bowen wrote.
Williams ran 252 times for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025, his first season in Dallas. He averaged 4.8 yards a carry. He played 16 games. Each of those numbers was a career high. He also caught 35 passes for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Javonte Williams Signed A Three-Year Extension With The Dallas Cowboys
Williams signed his three-year, $24 million extension at The Star on Feb. 24, less than two weeks before he could have tested free agency. The deal includes $16 million guaranteed, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. He had come to Dallas on March 10, 2025, on a one-year contract worth $3.5 million.
Williams had played the 2025 season on that one-year deal after four seasons in Denver. In late June he told The Dallas Morning News what the extension changed for him.
“It felt good, just knowing all my hard work paid off, and I got a little bit of security. But I’ve still got a lot more to prove,” Williams said. “I at least want to go to the Pro Bowl and definitely want to get to a Super Bowl with the team. Just working hard, grinding, and trying to be a better version of myself. That’s all I’m worried about.”
The Denver Broncos drafted Williams in the second round in 2021, 35th overall. In Week 4 of the 2022 season he tore the ACL, PCL, and LCL in his right knee. He played out four seasons with the Broncos and then hit free agency.
Williams has 3,595 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns on 858 carries in five seasons. He has caught 193 passes for 1,103 yards and 7 touchdowns. He turned 26 in April and played at North Carolina, where he was a second-team All-American in 2020.
Matt Bowen And ESPN Set The Dallas Cowboys Bar At The Postseason
Todd Archer covers the Cowboys for ESPN and wrote the rest of the Dallas section of the preview. His bar for the season is a playoff berth. He named the offense the biggest strength on the roster and the defense the biggest concern.
The Cowboys averaged 391.9 yards a game last season, second in the NFL. They scored the seventh-most points. They went 7-9-1 and missed the playoffs for a second straight year.
Early in camp in Oxnard, California, Williams told reporters he spent the offseason on his conditioning on the field and on his leadership off it.
“Just a whole other level of maturity,” Williams said of the offense, per the team’s website. “I feel like we hit the ground running. We didn’t really start from the ground up, we just kind of built on what we could’ve done better last year. I feel like we’re executing and communicating well.”
“Whatever plays I make, I’m just doing it for the team,” Williams also said. “And ultimately, we’re just trying to win the Super Bowl. If that’s what I have to do or however it goes, we’re just trying to win a Super Bowl.”
ESPN’s Football Power Index projects 9.2 wins for Dallas. It gives the Cowboys a 51.9% chance of making the playoffs and a 33.9% chance of winning the NFC East. FPI rates the Dallas schedule the fourth-hardest in the league. The Cowboys ranked 11th of 32 teams in the preview.
Last season the defense allowed more points than any team in the league. It ranked 30th in yards allowed. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer replaced his defensive staff in January. Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker was hired Jan. 22 and has never called a defense before.
Dallas opens Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, against the New York Giants. Kickoff is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. It is the 128th meeting between the two franchises.
