Dallas Cowboys pre-training camp position breakdown series, looking at the wide receivers

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Here is our look at the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver room in the lead up to training camp next month.

Heading into training camp for the Dallas Cowboys there is one position group that feels both incredibly stable but with serious questions underneath it at the same time and that is wide receiver. We know that CeeDee Lamb, and Brandin Cooks will lead the way, with Jalen Tolbert having the edge for WR3, but the confidence level in that third name seems to be all over the place as he enters his third season with the team. Part of the question is what lies behind Tolbert and that is part of what training camp and work in Oxnard is for. There are some questions that need work to find the answer.

In the lead up to camp we are taking a look at each position group on the team in depth in both written form and discussion on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel. This is our third installment as we are spacing them out to pace ourselves a bit, if you would like to visit the previous two we have linked to them below:

• Quarterback
• Backfield

Let’s discuss the Dallas Cowboys wide receivers and how we feel about them.

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CeeDee Lamb

There is no question here. CeeDee Lamb is one of the very best wide receivers in the NFL. All that remains to be seen with Lamb at this point is if/when the Cowboys are going to reach terms that he and his representation find to be satisfactory regarding a contract extension. We can (and have done so) argue that the Cowboys would have been wise to get ahead of this situation a year ago when Lamb was first eligible for an extension but here we are.

And where we are is with Lamb coming off of what was literally the most impressive and robust individual season that a wide receiver has ever had in team history. He set marks in receptions and receiving yards that had never been touched before and did so in 16 regular season games for any statistical purists out there. It makes sense for him to want his new deal before he steps foot onto any practice field whether it is in Frisco or Oxnard.

While we are talking about Lamb’s production it is worth noting that it will very likely decline in 2024. This is in no way meant to say that Lamb is in decline, but he has been on an absolute tear since being drafted (another reason to pay him).

Pro Football Reference

You will note that Lamb has improved literally every year that he has been in the NFL in some significant categories: targets, receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Odds of improving for a fourth year in a row are slim because last year was in fact so dominant.

Consider that Lamb could have 120 receptions for 1,500 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024 and that this would be regression in the primary categories of his position but it would still be an impressive individual season. We should brace ourselves for some return to the mean.

These are rich people problems as far as roster construction is concerned, though. Lamb is one of the best players on the team and something we do not need to fret over.

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Brandin Cooks

Looking back on things it feels like we may have been on our third or fourth of glass of kool-aid when we suggested and/or assumed that Brandin Cooks would reach 1,000 receiving yards with the Cowboys like he had with his other teams. He obviously did not.

Cooks joined the Cowboys after a season in which he had 57 receptions for 699 yards and three touchdowns with the Houston Texans. Those are closer numbers to what we saw from him last year except for one critical area.

Touchdowns.

Cooks caught eight touchdowns last year. Consider that 2022 CeeDee Lamb led the team with nine. What is particularly interesting/impressive is that Cooks didn’t have any for the first month of the season. He ultimately caught his eight touchdowns over the course of the final 12 games of the regular season.

Pro Football Reference

Optimism says that it took Cooks and Dak Prescott some time to truly find and develop chemistry with one another. That is not hard to believe given that it is very often true for new teammates across all of sports in different ways.

Cooks is entering his 11th season in the NFL so he is hardly in his prime anymore but he is certainly a capable Robin for a defined Batman. History has seen Cooks reach a second season with a team on three different occasions (he only played one season with the New England Patriots) and in two of those instances (New Orleans and Houston) his targets and receptions both improved in the second season with the club (his yardage only slightly dipped in his second season with the Texans). This also suggests that time is kind to Cooks with a stable environment around him.

Will that same pattern (so to speak) hold true with the Cowboys? That remains to be seen. But it certainly does not seem impossible.

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Jalen Tolbert

Once upon a time it took two years for wide receivers in the NFL to find themselves as they blossomed into full on professionals in year three. That has changed to say the least.

Everywhere you look there are wideouts dominating football fields from the moment that they set foot on it (case in point CeeDee Lamb). These were the kind of lofty expectations that the Cowboys and many had for Jalen Tolbert when he was a third-round rookie in 2022, but needless to say that was not what we saw.

Tolbert improved greatly from year one to year two although the bar was obviously quite low. He garnered the support from teammates and coaches alike which says a lot about the worker he is, but we are back to a place where there are legitimate expectations upon him. The WR3 spot is his to lose with Michael Gallup out of the fold, and while he does have NFL experience under his belt, we have yet to see him fully take an opportunity like this.

CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks are top flight options that will carry a lot of weight in the wide receiver room, but Tolbert is sort of expected to contribute at a very high level given what lies behind him on the depth chart (more on that in a moment). What if he doesn’t? What if this just isn’t meant to be? That could leave the Cowboys a bit up a creek so there is a lot riding on Tolbert putting it all together in year numero tres.

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We will be dropping videos breaking down position groups on the Dallas Cowboys roster every Tuesday and Thursday for the next few weeks as we get closer and closer to training camp. Make sure to subscribe to the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel (which you can do right here) so you do not miss any of them.

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KaVontae Turpin

We are here to discuss these players relative to what they can contribute as wide receivers but it is difficult to have a conversation about KaVontae Turpin without factoring in what he offers in the return game. He has been a notable weapon in that regard.

But will that be the same in 2024? New kickoff rules are here and therefore a world that we do not entirely know. It is still to be determined exactly what kind of skillset provides the largest advantage as far as return men go and it is possible that Turpin is not that for Dallas.

This inherently brings us to the conversation of Turpin as a receiver, because if he isn’t providing something elsewhere, then we are evaluating him exclusively in this capacity. He saw a bump in the receiving game during his second season (first with Mike McCarthy calling the offense which is notable) but ultimately we are talking about 18 targets, 12 receptions, 127 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. Is that enough to call him WR4?

If 2024 is a world where Tolbert is not performing the way we would like, is anyone out there seriously comfortable with with Turpin running out with the offense in 11 personnel? Training camp will go a long way at proving what Turpin will offer on offense in his own third year.

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Jalen Brooks

This time last year there was a line, albeit a short one, of people readying to claim Jalen Brooks as their pet cat. Those who did were rewarded with a player who made the roster and got a sprinkled share of opportunities over the course of the season.

Given that he was on the team last year, it goes without saying that Brooks has the inside track over others to make the roster again. A whole year in the offense, with actual NFL action, and experience with quarterback Dak Prescott have set him up nicely for a proper sophomore season.

Does he have the ability to leapfrog Turpin for WR4? Is there a world where Tolbert opens the door at WR3 and Brooks rises that far? Obviously anything can happen. If there is a name to watch for floating higher than we may be anticipating it feels safe to suggest that Jalen Brooks is it given the combination of his experience and familiarity with the offense.

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Ryan Flournoy

When it comes to the NFL you can often follow the money to figure out eventual answers to stuffy situations. This also means that you can look at who is a draft pick and when exactly they were selected.

As a member of this year’s drafted class Ryan Flournoy has a stronger chance of making the roster than your conventional UDFA. Clearly players still have to prove themselves, but that he has resources devoted to him in a way that someone else does not works to his advantage. That is the point.

Flournoy’s athleticism has made people wonder if he was someone who could provide a different sort of skillset in the return game. Could it prove to be the advantage that John Fassel and his group are looking for? He is going to have to find some sort of way to make a name for himself given the stability at the top of the wide receiver depth chart, but like Brooks did last year he should be able to earn a spot on the roster with a solid enough camp.

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The remaining six

Training camp is the time of year where we fall in love with different names at wide receiver and allow our pet cats to give us different sorts of vision. Can Cam Johnson be that payer? Will David Durden turn into something this year? Is it Jalen Cropper who will show out in Oxnard similar to last year? We simply do not know.

These are names that you can expect to fill the stat sheets throughout all of preseason action and perhaps fill the role that Dennis Houston did with the team two years ago in becoming an ideal target of Dak Prescott. That may sound like an incidental thing, but those are the differences in players making the roster or not. You have to do whatever you can to earn your own spot and for the most part the remaining six here will have to find some slant to take.