From @ToddBrock24f7: Dennis Houston and Jalen Moreno-Cropper may have an inside track on the Cowboys’ remaining roster spots, if the presumed QB3 had a vote.
As the 2023 preseason winds down, the Cowboys still have 13 wide receivers in the building. That surely won’t be the case after Tuesday’s cut deadline.
CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, and Michael Gallup are locked in as the starters. KaVontae Turpin is assuredly on the team, too, thanks mostly to the return skills that made him the USFL MVP in 2022. Jalen Tolbert has made massive strides over his second offseason and appears to have kept his seat at the table. And while the MRI results aren’t back at the time of this writing, undrafted rookie David Durden figures to be out of the mix entirely after a possible ACL tear suffered on Wednesday.
Last year, the Cowboys put eight wide receivers on the initial 53-man roster, but one of them was Gallup, who the team knew would miss the start of the season. Once the dust settled a few days later, there were seven receivers on the official roster and two more on the practice squad.
If those numbers hold true again in 2023, there would be two more open roster spots and two practice squad jobs, with seven remaining receivers battling for them. More than that would be a surprise. It could be fewer. Cowboys Wire’s K.D. Drummond projected the team to keep just five receivers and three practice squadders on the initial 53.
It’s hard to say definitively which Dallas receivers have an inside track to sticking around; all have flashed in moments through training camp.
Fifth-year quarterback Will Grier, himself seemingly headed for the practice squad as QB3 behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush, has perhaps a unique perspective on this group of little-known camp bodies, as he has probably put in more reps with them than anyone.
And the 28-year-old had two names that jumped out to him when asked who has impressed.
“I think Jalen [Moreno-]Cropper’s done a great job making plays,” Grier told reporters after Wednesday’s practice at The Star, adding, “Dennis Houston’s a consistent guy every day: gets separation.”
Moreno-Cropper is in his first year in the pros, an undrafted product out of Fresno State. He turned several heads in Oxnard with speedy route-running and good hands.
Houston came to the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent last year after finishing his college career at Western Illinois. He made the initial roster in 2022, got onto the field in Weeks 1 and 2, but then was waived upon Gallup’s return. He was re-signed shortly thereafter and spent the rest of the season on the Cowboys practice squad.
Both Moreno-Cropper and Houston- along with Simi Fehoko, Dontario Drummond, Jalen Brooks, Jose Barbon, and Tyron Johnson- hope to show enough potential to stick around. Extended employment with the Cowboys could put any of them on the same track as Tolbert and give them a chance to similarly boost their stock for the future.
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Grier, like everyone else in Dallas, has noticed the quantum leap made by the youngster from South Alabama.
“I think his physicality and his approach way back in the offseason- you’re seeing pay off now,” Grier said of 2022’s third-round draft pick. “He gets open, he gets separation, he’s blocking his ass off. He’s doing a great job.”
All of the receivers vying for a roster spot have one more chance to make a lasting impression in Saturday’s preseason finale versus Las Vegas.
Grier’s advice for them? Approach it the same way he will be.
“It’s just an opportunity for guys to go out and not force it and just play how they always play and let the rest take care of itself.”
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