Cowboys News: Will McClay confirms juicy WR battle come training camp

The Dallas Cowboys' drafting strategy took just about everyone by surprise. They executed a perfect pre-draft smokescreen by leading folks to believe they were taking the highest tight end on their board in the first round before settling on Michigan nose tackle Mazi Smith.

That made it clear Will McClay and company would draft for need instead of best player available -- which speaks to their conviction in the roster -- and sure enough that held true in round two when they nabbed Michigan tight end Luke Schoonmaker to fill the void left by Dalton Schultz in free agency.

Perhaps the most surprising development was that the Cowboys waited until the fifth round to bolster their offensive line and until round seven to take a receiver after they met with a handful of this year's most coveted prospects.

It's obvious Dallas is content with its trio of CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks and Michael Gallup. That has the potential to be one of the best WR rooms in the league, but it does beg the question of who will operate as the fourth option.

Many believe the Cowboys will turn in-house for WR4 and Will McClay all but confirmed that will come down to Jalen Tolbert or Simi Fehoko.

Cowboys Rumors: Jalen Tolbert and Simi Fehoko to battle for WR4 spot

The Cowboys agreed to terms with four undrafted free agents. It'd be foolish to write them off as candidates for the 53-man roster after T.J. Vasher and Dennis Houston made noise both in training camp and preseason. Houston even made the final roster and started Week 1 with Fehoko banged up and Tolbert failing to get activated.

With that said, Tolbert and Fehoko have a clear leg up on the rest of Dallas' receivers. Both players should have a fundamental understanding of the offense.

Though Mike McCarthy has presided over the offense, it's not expected to be a complete 180 from Kellen Moore's system. Certain concepts and play designs will be different, but we're hardly talking about a complete facelift.

While Tolbert is a former third round pick, there's no arguing Fehoko showed more during training camp last year. Fans might recall the Stanford product burning Trevon Diggs for a long touchdown in practice. Fehoko stood out opposite Lamb with James Washington sidelined and Michael Gallup rehabbing his torn ACL.

Of course, Fehoko has struggled staying on the field, too. When healthy, he might have a slight edge on Tolbert, but the 2022 third-rounder is in excellent shape and a great headspace, and has been seen working out with Dak Prescott this offseason.

Let the battle commence.