One of the elements of the Cooper Kupp free agency tour that interested me was the report that Dallas was in the mix. It's hard to say how accurate that was, but it did have me thinking about the team's receiving corps.
After CeeDee Lamb, there's not much there, and hasn't been for a while. In the last eight years, they've had two other wide receivers rank in the top 30 at the position: Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup. This is a team that's passed the ball pretty well for most of that time, so it's surprising. But it's been Lamb and a couple of different tight ends doing most of the pass catching.
Dallas did not sign Kupp, and they're not going to sign another big name, so unless they use a high pick on a rookie, what they'll have in 2025 will be what they have right now.
They re-signed KaVontae Turpin and said some nice things about getting him involved in the offense, but realistically he's there mostly for special teams (31 catches last year). They inexplicably sent the Panthers a fourth-round pick for Jonathan Mingo, which presumably happened because they liked him coming out of college, but Mingo in two seasons has caught fewer than half the passes thrown his way, averaging 2 catches per week, and is still looking for his first NFL touchdown. Maybe, but optimistic to think the light will suddenly come on.
Other wideouts on the roster are Ryan Flournoy (a sixth-rounder last year) and a pair of Jalens, Brooks and Tolbert.
Of these players, Tolbert has shown the most -- when given the opportunity.
Last year, Tolbert had at least 4 passes thrown his way 11 times. He finished with double-digit points (PPR) in seven of those games, 12-plus in five of them. Just four games with more than 3 receptions, but he was pretty good at turning his chances into scores -- he caught 7 touchdowns. Kind of seems like they should use him a little more.
| TOLBERT WITH 4-PLUS TARGETS, 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | FF |
| at Pit. | 10 | 7 | 87 | 1 | 21.7 |
| N.O. | 9 | 6 | 82 | 0 | 14.2 |
| Was. | 6 | 4 | 98 | 0 | 13.8 |
| at Atl. | 6 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 10.9 |
| Bal. | 5 | 3 | 42 | 1 | 13.2 |
| Det. | 5 | 4 | 43 | 0 | 8.3 |
| Phi. | 5 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 4.4 |
| Hou. | 5 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 4.1 |
| at Phi. | 4 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 12.0 |
| at Was. | 4 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 10.2 |
| NYG | 4 | 2 | 41 | 0 | 6.1 |
| T.B. | 3 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 10.0 |
| at S.F. | 3 | 3 | 44 | 0 | 7.4 |
| at NYG | 3 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 5.4 |
| Cin. | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| at Car. | 2 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 8.1 |
| at Cle. | 2 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 2.2 |
To be clear, not a player anyone can count on being a factor in fantasy leagues. He probably won't even be selected in early drafts, and that's understandable. Lamb and Jake Ferguson will be the team's top receiving options.
But Tolbert looks a lot better than Mingo or the other youngsters Dallas can offer up at wide receiver. Put him on the field and give him 5-7 targets, and good things can happen. With the team not tending to do much in free agency in recent years, they figure to be counting on him as one of their top 3 targets, barring an early draft pick.
--Andy Richardson