Michael Gallup has taken his fair share of criticism this season. The 26-year-old receiver was re-signed in the off-season to serve as the Cowboys WR2 for the foreseeable future. His presence, combined with CeeDee Lamb’s development, made Amari Cooper somewhat expendable.
The club didn’t mind the fact Gallup was recovering from offseason knee surgery after tearing his ACL in Week 17 last season. The brass swore he would be ready to go by opening day and thanks to that set the expectation Gallup would pick up the slack left by Cooper.
As sane ones could imagine, the season started slowly for Gallup. Despite playing in 14 games, Gallup posted a career low in receiving yards. Twice before Gallup played 14 or few games and both of those times his production exceeded his modest totals in 2022.
Explosiveness and speed have been called into question throughout the season with some wondering if Gallup will ever be a legitimate weapon again this season.
While he’s unlikely to regain his pre-injury form in however many games Dallas has left, his performance against Tampa Bay had him reemerging as a weapon on this Dallas offense and an asset for quarterback Dak Prescott heading into the divisional round.