Cowboys receiver situation isn’t as grim as some previous years
How confident are you in the Cowboys receiving group?
There’s been some “the sky is falling” talk about the Cowboys not adding any additional wide receivers yet to their 2024 roster. While the team deserves criticism for some of its past decisions at the position, lumping this offseason in with those errors is a bit of a stretch. Without any new arrivals, Dallas has enough firepower in the passing game to be competitive this season.
Some analysts, including some from this site, have brought up the 2018 and 2022 seasons as precedents for the Cowboys’ neglect. You’d be justified bashing how the Cowboys handled things those years, especially in 2018. Despite releasing Dez Bryant and Jason Witten going to Monday Night Football, the Cowboys leaned on incumbents Cole Beasley, Terrance Williams, and Geoff Swaim while only adding the likes of Allen Hurns and Tavon Austin. They did draft Michael Gallup that year, but a third-round pick probably wasn’t going to help too much as a rookie. The complaints were valid.
2022 was also rough, though perhaps more due to bad outcomes than bad strategy. They had CeeDee Lamb already looking like a star and felt comfortable dumping Amari Cooper for a fifth-round pick and cap space. They hoped Gallup would make a quick return from an ACL injury the previous year. Again, they spent a third-round pick on a WR in Jalen Tolbert. They also used the franchise tag to retain TE Dalton Schultz, who, for whatever flaws he had, was still far better than their 2018 cast.
While 2022 was better than 2018, you do notice one consistent thread between them. This has been a blemish on Jerry Jones’ management for decades; being overly trusting and optimistic with your homegrown talent. Jones’ desperation to win his way, and with his guys, has often clouded his judgment. Cooper wasn’t one of his guys, and that’s why he discarded him for a pittance while giving Gallup and his bad knee a multi-year extension. Asking supporting cast players like Beasley and Williams to be your starters in 2018 was hubris at work. Even at the diminished stages of their careers, Bryant and Witten’s exits deserved more respect in the team’s efforts to replace them.
Some have accused the Cowboys of repeating this trend in 2024. Granted, there’s still a lot of offseason left for them to sign more veteran help or pull off a trade. It’s not even June 1st yet, so perhaps judgment should be reserved. But even if Dallas stands pat with their current group, they are in a far better situation this season than either of the aforementioned campaigns.
For one, Lamb has ascended to the Mt. Rushmore of current NFL receivers. Nobody in 2018 could come close to him, and even the 2022 version of Lamb was still developing. Now as dominant as they come, Lamb’s presence alone makes life so much easier for his quarterback and fellow receivers with all of the attention he commands. The trickle-down effect is a huge boon for this year’s offense.
Next, a lot of people seem to be underrating Brandin Cooks as his sidekick. While Cooks’ totals from last year were not great, he got off to a slow start with a sprained knee that limited him early. He scored five touchdowns over Dallas’ last seven games and was clearly earning Dak Prescott’s trust in pressure moments. He does turn 31 in September, which is rightfully concerning, but once he got healthy last year there was no indication of decline from age. There’s good reason to think a second year in the system will only make him more effective in 2024.
Even if you’re good with Lamb and Cooks, the depth is where some are taking exception. Jalen Tolbert’s claim to the WR3 role, seemingly by default right now, might make you nervous. But while we haven’t seen much of Tolbert yet, he’s a former third-round pick entering his third season. Last year he was buried behind veterans, including Gallup early on as the team tried to let him work through the ongoing knee issues. Yes, the team is once again putting faith in one of their homegrown assets. But this is a logical progression given his experience and draft pedigree; you have to see what these kids really have at some point.
A couple of other depth options have the potential to do more this year, too. Jalen Brooks impressed coaches as a seventh-round rookie last year and should get more work. KaVontae Turpin, who should make the roster for special teams alone, may finally earn more offensive snaps. And who knows what the likes of Ryan Flournoy, Jalen Cropper, or David Durden might do to surprise us? We don’t need these guys to be the next Miles Austin; just another Cedrick Wilson would do nicely. Thankfully, multiple options give the Cowboys a few spins at the wheel.
Yes, this may sound like some of the very internal promotion hubris that we talked about earlier. But again, we’re not talking about starters. You have a top-shelf elite WR1 in Lamb, a worthy second fiddle in Cooks, and lots of developing options to fill the depth chart. Plenty of teams have won with less.
But to really assuage your concerns, let’s bring the tight ends back into the discussion. Jake Ferguson isn’t some journeyman like the team threw out there in 2018. He also isn’t a stat-padding, undynamic system product like Schultz. Ferguson has quickly proven to be one of the more exciting young TEs in the game. If his trajectory continues into Year 3, Ferguson could very well be your true number-two receiver.
One reason the Cowboys may be okay with Cooks as a starter, even as he gets older, is their faith in Ferguson’s continued development. This isn’t like just handing the TE1 job to Swaim, who’d had limited opportunities behind Witten and whose highlight reel was mostly preseason plays. Ferguson is a legitimately ascending talent, coming off his first Pro Bowl and deserving more targets going forward. If he makes a third-year leap in development, Ferguson could be among the top TEs in the game. Having only been a teammate of Jason Witten during his twilight years, Prescott just may have the most dangerous TE he’s ever worked with.
So there are solid reasons not to approach the 2024 receiving group with a sense of dread or futility. With CeeDee Lamb an elite WR1, Jake Ferguson a rising star at TE, Brandin Cooks a capable veteran starter, and young depth with room to grow, there’s more than enough here to facilitate a potent passing attack. If Dak Prescott can’t get it done with these receiving options, then the Cowboys absolutely should start looking for their next quarterback. Jerry Jones may have done him wrong in past offseasons, but this isn’t one of them.
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