Dallas Cowboys don’t know what they have at receiver yet
Even the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive coordinator admits he has no idea what the team has at wide receiver yet for the upcoming season.
The Dallas Cowboys offseason was focused around one key positional group: the wide receiver corps. And the offseason will likely end with several unanswered questions surrounding this group as well.
The future of veteran receiver Dez Bryant fueled the Cowboys offseason speculation. The answer came in April as Dallas elected to part ways with the 29-year old. And Bryant is still looking for a new team to call home.
Bryant’s exodus was the start of the unraveling of this positional group, as longtime number two Terrance Williams would soon be arrested for a bizarre incident that led him being charged with public intoxication and leaving the scene of an accident. All while the sixth-year receiver was recovering from a broken foot.
That left Cole Beasley as the lone veteran among this group. But the diminutive slot receiver is coming off his worst season as a professional, after posting a career performance the year prior.
Once staples of this Cowboys receiver corps, the combination of Bryant, Williams, and Beasley is no more. And in their place is a bunch of new faces. Some young, some old.
Veterans like Allen Hurns, Tavon Wilson, and Deonte Thompson were added to the roster this offseason by Dallas. Rookies Michael Gallup and Cedrick Wilson were drafted and look to make a major impact in year one. These new faces join fringe roster receivers in Noah Brown, Lance Lenoir, K.D. Cannon and others looking to state their case for a spot on the final team.
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan made it clear recently to the Dallas Morning News. The Cowboys wide receiver corps is a major question mark going into Training Camp, even for him.
"“We don’t know what we have yet. Coach Garrett used the term like a mold of clay, and we’re trying to figure it out right now, but it’s fun because we have the talent and really have hungry guys … We’re going to see. They haven’t been in this situation for a while around here. I think it will be fun for all of us.”"
The fact that even the Cowboys offensive coordinator admits to not exactly knowing what to expect out of this group is scary. The national media has already labeled this wide receiver corps as one of the worst in the league.
But on a run-first Cowboys team, there doesn’t seem to be much panic around The Star. Dallas has made major investments to both their offensive line and in running back Ezekiel Elliott. They know their future lies with this group and not their receiver corps.
Next: 30 greatest Dallas Cowboys in franchise history
Quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys receivers simply need to make clutch plays when their numbers are called in 2018. The Cowboys are betting they don’t need a dominant wideout or a big name to get the job done. Only time and the standings will tell if they’re ultimately right.