During the offseason, NFL football fans are usually at the peak of optimism for the upcoming season. Every fan base gets excited about draft picks and free agents additions, and as reports come back from OTA’s, potential breakout players already on the roster. There is no shortage of Dallas Cowboys breakout candidates for 2019. Here are a couple of options for both offense and defense.
MICHAEL GALLUP, WR
Second year wide receiver is the the most popular and obvious choice for a breakout player in 2019. Last year as a rookie, Gallup showed flashes of big play ability making some clutch contested catches and nearly connecting with Dak Prescott on deep balls on several occasions. Now that Gallup has been penciled in as a starter this year, the expectation is that the chemistry between Gallup and Prescott improves in year 2 as does Gallup’s development. There are plenty of mouths to feed in Dallas but the presence of Amari Cooper on the opposite side should provide Michael Gallup with plenty of 1 on 1 opportunities to take advantage of. Another factor that has impacted the Michael Gallup hype train for fans was his performance in the playoffs last year. If Gallup sustains the pace he set during his 2 career playoff games, he could be in line for 60+ catches and over 1000 yards receiving in 2019.
BLAKE JARWIN, TE
Many fans of the Dallas Cowboys believe that bringing Jason Witten back may hinder the development of their young tight ends Blake Jarwin and Dalton Shultz. That may well be the case but I still do anticipate one of those players to really step up in 2019. Shultz has the higher pedigree being a 4th round pick in 2018 but the former undrafted FA Jarwin came into his own the second half of last season. Jarwin already “broke out” in a sense following an epic 3 touchdown performance in the season finale against the Giants in 2018. Granted, it appeared that the Giants secondary had no interest in tackling him on at least one of those touchdowns, but regardless it was a big time performance. Jarwin is primarily a threat in the passing game but he did appear to bulk up a fair bit towards the end of last season which should help him be more effective as a blocker. I would not be surprised to see Jason Witten’s role decreased significantly since he last played with the Dallas Cowboys and because of that, Blake Jarwin could be the leading receiver among the TE group this year.
XAVIER WOODS, FS
Xavier Woods will be playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder this season. He did not hide the fact that he felt disrespected amidst all of the Earl Thomas rumours.
Equally the Dallas Cowboys have shown confidence in Woods by not paying top dollar for a free agent safety and passing up on Juan Thornhill, Nasir Adderly, and Chauncey Gardner-Phillips in the NFL draft. Woods experienced a bit of a break out season in 2018 but hopefully in this third year he can take the next step and become a Pro-Bowl calibre player.
MALIEK COLLINS, DT
Maliek Collins was supposed to emerge as a breakout player the past 2 seasons but injuries have really hampered his full potential. Now that the Dallas Cowboys have added depth at the DT position in both free agency and the draft, the chances of Collins breaking out in 2019 appear less likely. The Dallas Cowboys may be excited about their 2019 second round pick Trysten Hill but he is a rookie that will require some development and it is probable that he will not be named the day 1 starter. That honor should belong to Maliek Collins. Collins will have the extra motivation of being in a contract year this season and for that reason I expect him to have a banner year.
All data and statistics obtained and verified from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
Yess