This has been the summer of Ryan Flournoy on social media. The third-year receiver from Central Missouri State has received a ton of national attention as several analysts and sites have predicted that he will have a breakout season in 2026. It’s not hard to understand why after he had several big performances last season, and is set to become the clear No. 3 receiver in Dallas behind CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.
However, there is another receiver on the roster who is starting to get more praise and that is KaVontae Turpin. Signing as a free agent from the UFL in 2022, Turpin made the Pro Bowl in his first season in the NFL as a returner. By 2024, he was an All-Pro selection after leading the league in kick return yards (904) and kick return average (33.5).
While his primary job is to be a special teams ace, his role in the offense has grown since coming into the league. Suddenly, he’s no longer just a gadget player on offense but a legit weapon who is gaining the trust of Dak Prescott and the coaching staff.
Cowboys' KaVontae Turpin could have bigger role as a WR in 2026
In a recent piece by ESPN, they ranked all 32 rosters ahead of training camps, and to no surprise, the Cowboys came in near the middle of the pack. Their roster was ranked at No. 14, mostly due to their firepower on offense. The site noted that the Cowboys have one of the NFL’s best wide receiver corps and praised KaVontae Turpin several times in the piece.
Here is a snippet of what Aaron Schatz had to say about the Cowboys’ All-Pro returner and wide receiver going into a critical 2026 season:
“We know he's one of the best kick return men in the NFL, but Turpin has also been extremely useful as a depth receiver, with receiving DVOA over 15.0% in two of the past three seasons. Last season, he caught 26 passes for 396 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 2.3 YAC over expectation.”
Turpin played behind a stacked wide receiver corps in 2025, and yet, he still saw a career-high in offensive snaps (380). He played 36 percent of the offensive snaps for Dallas, which was up from 27 percent in 2024. Prior to that, he never had a season of more than 13 percent of the offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Reference.
There are two main reasons why Turpin is earning more snaps in the offense. The first one is obvious, and that is due to his speed. The Cowboys just don’t have another player on their roster with his speed and quickness, so he does provide some big-play juice to an offense that needs it.
Cowboys fans shouldn't sleep on KaVontae Turpin the wide receiver
Turpin averaged a whopping 15.2 yards per reception last season, which was the highest of his career and just slightly behind Pickens (15.4). Some of that was inflated by an 86-yard touchdown by Turpin in Week 17, but he’s been a big-play receiver for Dallas over the last two seasons.
He’s also become a more efficient receiver on a down-by-down basis, as ESPN mentioned. Turpin has done a great job of exceeding expectations whenever the ball is in his hands and the offense needs more players who can make the job of Prescott easier.
Turpin is never going to become a 1,000-yard receiver and the Cowboys don’t need him to be. Lamb and Pickens will do almost all of the heavy lifting on offense and it’s up to Flournoy and Turpin to fill in the gaps.
With the Cowboys expected to lean even more heavily on 3-receiver sets, that could open up more opportunities for Turpin. And if he can clean up some of his drop issues (four in 2025), then there is no reason to think that he couldn’t exceed 400 snaps in 2026.
The ideal outcome for Turpin and the Cowboys would be that he continues to develop as the No. 4 receiver, allowing Dallas to give Lamb and Pickens some rest throughout games to keep them fresh for key moments. Turpin is clearly the No. 4 receiver on this roster, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see his role in the offense continue to grow.
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