How many wide receivers the Cowboys end up placing on the 53-man regular-season roster is anyone’s guess. But we know it will be at least four, and now we even know who those four will be.
CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, and Michael Gallup were gimmes. But beyond that trio of starters, there are still 11 other receivers hoping to have a locker at The Star this time next week.
Second-year man Jalen Tolbert will be one of them, says Stephen Jones.
The team’s chief operating officer confirmed what most observers had felt was the case all through camp, saying the 24-year-old out of South Alabama has sewn up the first backup spot on the depth chart.
“Tolbert’s locked down that four spot and certainly shown that he can be productive for us,” Jones said on Tuesday, per the team website. “Dak’s very comfortable with him.”
As if there was any doubt, #DallasCowboys EVP Stephen Jones confirmed what we’ve all been thinking this preseason:
“Jalen Tolbert’s locked down that four-spot and certainly shown that he can be productive for us. Dak’s very comfortable with him.”
Welcome, WR4.
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) August 22, 2023
For what it’s worth, head coach Mike McCarthy shrugged off any definitive developments in regard to the pecking order.
“I’m not really there with depth charts,” he said Tuesday. “That’s a PR thing.”
“But Jalen’s doing a heck of a job. Really proud of the strides that he’s made.”
It has indeed been a dramatic turnaround from Tolbert’s rookie season, when he posted just two catches on three targets for 12 yards.
“You’ve got a guy like Tolbert who ended up needing a little time, then you get a veteran in the room with him like a Cooks, and now we’re seeing what we drafted,” Jones continued. “That third-round pick has turned into something that we’re going to have.”
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Tolbert himself had admitted that he needed to work on his mental fortitude after a disappointing debut in 2022, when the expectations put on him as a small-school Top-100 draft pick were perhaps unreasonably high.
“I just had to put it all together, regain my confidence this offseason,” he said after the Cowboys’ second preseason game, in Seattle. “So I’m just going out there now and being myself, playing fast and physical and confident.”
It’s been enough that Tolbert has officially distinguished himself from the rest of the wide receiver hopefuls, who are now battling for a role as WR5, at best.
But Tolbert’s quantum leap during this offseason also stands out to Jones as something special, even among all the sophomore classes he’s seen come through the building.
“Usually, it’s an offensive lineman that can make a jump like that. Some guys just come in, and they’re going against full grown men in this league. A lot of guys are young,” Jones said.
“But on my fingertips, I don’t have someone that’s made that big of a jump from year one to year two.”
Tolbert’s made the jump, all right. But there’s still no telling where he could eventually land.
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