The Dallas Cowboys currently have a lot of needs on their roster. Departures along the offensive line are flashing warning signs. Linebacker was addressed in outside free agency, but remains a concern. There are currently no running backs on the roster worthy of full confidence.
You can see how “a lot” is an understatement.
One area of concern on the roster that's a little buried is the wide receiver position. Dallas has CeeDee Lamb, one of the best wideouts in the league, back on the team, as well as Brandin Cooks, who hit his stride late last season, but there are plenty of other question marks.
Jalen Tolbert is seen as the next successor following Michael Gallup's firing, but it's hard to trust him even if he was a top-100 pick two years ago. Jalen Brooks saw a little bit of action last season, but are you ready to run him all the time in an 11-man system?
The Cowboys will likely draft a wide receiver, but unfortunately their recent track record in that department has been spotty.
All signs point to the Cowboys drafting a wide receiver at some point within the next two weeks, and there's considerable logic suggesting it will happen before the second day of the NFL Draft ends. Consider that the mothership recently stated that the receiver was “likely” to be drafted.
Given that we're basically assuming Dallas will draft a wide receiver, it would make sense to consider their track record. Here are the wideouts teams have drafted over the past decade. Conveniently, that's his 10-man list in itself.
- 2023, 7th Place: Jalen Brooks
- 2022, 3rd Place: Jalen Tolbert
- 2021, 5th place: Simi Fehoko
- 2020 1st place: CeeDee Lamb
- 2018, 3rd place: Michael Gallup
- 2018, 6th place: Cedric Wilson
- 2017, 4th Place: Ryan Switzer
- 2017 6th place: Noah Brown
- 2014, 5th place: Devin Street
- 2013, 3rd place: Terrence Williams
Three players remain on the team: Lamb, Tolbert and Brooks. The problem is that Lamb may or may not hold up during contract negotiations with teams, and I mentioned earlier how unreliable Tolbert and Brooks are.
As mentioned above, Michael Gallup was released by the team this offseason, but there is no doubt that he was a great player for the team during his rookie contract. Cedric Wilson really came into his own near the end of his time in Dallas, but then he left in free agency and we've missed him ever since. Similar thoughts can be expressed about Noah Brown. He also didn't really make an appearance until his final days with the team, when he left. It should also be mentioned that Terrence Williams was also very productive before signing his second contract with the team.
To be fair, this list does not include undrafted wide receivers who helped the team in a variety of capacities during this period. Cavonte Turpin and Lucky Whitehead come to mind in this regard. Also, players acquired in trades like the aforementioned Cooks and Amari Cooper are not here.
On this list, I can only find (at least for now) only two players who signed their second contracts with the team and were slated to serve as pass catchers (Noah Brown is off the table, but all credit goes to him.) Our names are Michael Gallup and Terrence Williams.
Gallup and Williams were drafted six and 11 years ago, respectively, so it's time for Dallas to get a little more serious about paying them, and it's been a minute since they found the players they want back. Lamb is obviously likely to be added to this list, and hopefully soon, but since drafting him, the Cowboys have struggled overall to find receivers in the NFL Draft.
Given the overall lack of depth at the wide receiver position and the likelihood that the team will pick a wide receiver in the draft, this pick needs to be a big hit right away. The Cowboys won't be completely reliant on the wide receiver they draft, but he will have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
Given the evolution of the college game, we live in an era where draft depth is generally deep at wide receiver, and this year is no exception. But since finding a generational wide receiver in CeeDee Lamb in the first round (and they can probably pay for that guy!), the Cowboys haven't been able to get a proper second piece of the pie. Not yet.
