Wide Receiver Position Preview: Dallas Cowboys

Michael Gallup (above), Amari Cooper, and rookie CeeDee Lamb aim to be the first trio of wide receivers to reach 1000 yards receiving since 2008. *Photo by Joe Glorioso All-Pro Reels https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeglo/

The Dallas Cowboys wide receiver group is arguably the best in the league, or at the very least the best top three. While they lack a truly dominant number one wide receiver such as Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, or Julio Jones, Amari Cooper is in that conversation. Cooper is certainly a top 10 and possibly a top 5 talent at his position. Coop is considered one of the premier route runners in all of football and his only fault has been his consistency. Michael Gallup emerged last year as a breakout star surpassing 1100 receiving yards while playing in only 14 games. In addition to those two stars, the Dallas Cowboys went and drafted the top wide receiver prospect with the 17th pick of the draft, CeeDee Lamb, to round out their starting group.

The buzz surrounding the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver trio is that there is a legitimate chance for all three of them to reach 1000 yards receiving in 2020. A very rare accomplishment. It is not out of the question by any means. In fact last season Randal Cobb was only 172 yards away from being the third 1000 yard receiver on the Cowboys. Cobb only played in 15 games and was a couple of dropped passes and long reception negated by a penalty away from accomplishing that feat. That said, it may be more difficult to duplicate the passing numbers the Cowboys produced last season especially in games where they were forced to play catch up. Hopefully the team is playing with the lead so often that they can lean on the run game late into the fourth quarter. If the top 3 receivers fail to all reach 1000 yards but the Cowboys win 12 games, you won’t hear me complaining about it.

While there is a lot of excitement about the exceptionally talented Dallas Cowboys wide receiver trio there remains some concern about the depth behind them. There is certainly no proven commodity or fourth receiver that would be expected to produce at nearly the same level should one of the big three miss any time. Devin Smith, Noah Brown, and Cedrick Wilson all have very limited experience and each has had injuries prevent them from getting a major opportunity up to this point in their careers. Ventell Bryant is a player who could make the team and contribute on special teams and Cowboys fans continue to be excited about practice squad speedster Jon’Vea Johnson. Undrafted free agent Stephon Guidry decided to opt out so he will not be in the mix. Depending on how deep the Cowboys decide to go at other positions there may only be 5 wide receivers chosen to make the final roster. It will interesting to see who the new coaching staff will select and if they decide to bring in some more options.

Despite some concern over the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver depth, the team is fortunate to have such high end talent there at the three starting spots. Both Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb figure to be used interchangeably in the slot and Gallup should remain an outside option mainly. Either way, these receivers will allow the Dallas Cowboys to take advantage of specific matchups week to week and have additional options if a team decides to focus on shutting down any one of these guys. The natural ability of all three of these wide receivers is off the charts and the potential for yards after the catch has most Dallas Cowboy fans really excited. Assuming all three stay healthy, the Dallas Cowboys offense will be a real problem for any NFL defense they may face.

*Photo by Joe Glorioso All-Pro Reelshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode

All Data and Statistics obtained and verified from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/