Tag: Simi Fehoko

WATCH: Wright’s timely INT leads to Grier-Fehoko TD strike for Cowboys

The Cowboys 2nd forced turnover led to a late first-half TD that narrowed the gap in the preseason finale. | From @CDBurnett7

This preseason hasn’t been a friendly one to cornerback Nahshon Wright but he finally got some redemption late in the first half against the Seahawks. The Cowboys 2021 third-round pick has been picked on at times in the preseason but found himself on the other end of an errant throw from Seattle’s Drew Lock. The Seahawks were beginning their two-minute drill but Wright stopped the momentum right after a 22-yard gain put them near midfield.

Wright’s interception is the second of the game for the Cowboys, the first being by safety Israel Mukuamu in the first quarter. Wright started the big play on the outside and read Lock’s eyes to slip down to the receiver underneath and the Seattle quarterback never saw him.

The takeaway set up the Dallas offense in strong field position at the Seahawks 31-yard line. With a 13-3 deficit, the Cowboys took the opportunity to close the gap. Quarterback Will Grier got the drive rolling with a 16-yard scramble and finished it with a strike to wide receiver Simi Fehoko, who was wide open in the back of the end zone.

The touchdown is Grier’s first of the preseason and Fehoko’s second.  Heading into halftime, the Cowboys made it a 13-10 game with plenty of time in their final preseason contest.

WATCH: DiNucci, Fehoko connect for Cowboys’ first TD of 2022 preseason

Ben DiNucci led the first touchdown drive of the 2022 preseason, capping it off with a strike to Simi Fehoko, who’s been surging in camp. | From @KDDrummondNFL

While the Cowboys preseason opener hasn’t been a strong outing, the quarterback position was one of the keys to watch. There’s zero question about the starting spot but the backup role is up for grabs. With Will Grier out, Cooper Rush started the contest and had an interception during a frustrating first outing of 2022.

Late in the second half, Ben DiNucci took over the quarterback duties for Dallas in a shutout up to that point for his offense. After his first drive ended in a missed field goal, DiNucci led the team down the field and ended it with a 12-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Simi Fehoko.

Fehoko showing success on the field is a great sign considering his positive training camp performances while DiNucci’s sidearm style gave the Cowboys their first touchdown of the young season. The backup quarterback battle continues to rage on while Dallas has likely dropped their first preseason game to Denver.

Seven young players to watch in Week 1 of the NFL preseason

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick points out seven young players to watch in the first week of the 2022 NFL preseason.

It’s officially the first weekend of full NFL preseason football! As teams begin joint practices, most starters will either be held out in this week’s games, or will play limited snaps.

This weekend’s matchups will be a good evaluation tool to see which players will make the first round of depth chart cuts (to 85 players) that take place on August 16th.

As players finally get to play full game speed, let’s take a look at a few underdogs who have been unexpectedly shining through camp; and who may surprise us all to make the final roster.s

ESPN names T.J. Vasher surprise offseason standout for Cowboys

After spending his rookie year nursing a knee, the Texas Tech product may have a leg up on the Cowboys’ WR competition heading into camp. | From @ToddBrock24f7

There’s a long way to go before the Cowboys get themselves down to a 53-man roster. But based on what he’s already seen in the offseason, one team insider is predicting a surprise in the Dallas WR room.

The Cowboys are thin on experience at the position, and even more so in the first few weeks of the season. CeeDee Lamb is the new undisputed top dog on the depth chart following Amari Cooper’s trade to Cleveland. Michael Gallup figures to be next in line, but he’s still rehabbing from an ACL tear and will likely miss the start the season. Veteran James Washington is new to the club, and Noah Brown returns for his sixth season, but both are dealing with minor injuries of their own.

That leaves the door open for a handful of others to step up, but there is a total of 12 wide receivers currently in the locker room. Common sense says several aren’t going to make it to Week 1.

Todd Archer of ESPN likes T.J. Vasher’s chances, even over 2021 draft-day darling Simi Fehoko.

Vasher, the 23-year-old out of Texas Tech, was signed last year as an undrafted free agent. He spent the entire season on the reserve/non-football injury list with a knee issue, even as Fehoko, the fifth-round selection out of Stanford made it into five games as a promising rookie.

But so far, in OTAs and minicamp, Vasher has impressed.

“He’s done good things,” head coach Mike McCarthy said recently. “I think he’s made some really big time flash plays, splash plays. He’s had some, really, particularly, in the red zone, which you can see his ability down there. He had some really good plays in scramble drills and things like that. I think like any young player, particularly in his development, is getting the details of the everyday situations.”

That was enough of an endorsement for Archer to put Vasher on his 53-man roster projection last week, citing “some eye-popping moments” over the spring workouts.

Fehoko was left out.

Quarterback Dak Prescott, however, isn’t so quick to discount the improvement that the Stanford product has made from Year One to Year Two.

“That’s a stride you have to take,” Prescott told reporters of Fehoko in mid-June. “He’s taken that in this offseason, whether it’s been times throwing, extra throwing, making sure that he’s been there, and he hasn’t missed any of those. And then you get out here in the football, 11-on-11 or whatever it is, and he’s taken strides and he will continue to take strides more. He’s a guy that’s going to be big for us.”

There is, however, a long list of young receivers who want to “be big” for Prescott and the Cowboys offense in 2022. Brandon Smith is also back for his second season. And the team brought in lots of fresh competition by taking Jalen Tolbert in this year’s third round and signing Dontario Drummond, Ty Fryfogle, Dennis Houston, and Jaquarii Robinson after the draft.

Vasher looks forward to the battle.

“Of course, I would love to be in and out the huddle with the guys and dialing up plays and scoring systems,” Vasher said, per the team website. “I think that’s why any of us want to do what we do, but honestly, I would like to contribute in whatever way possible. I love football to the truest extent. So, any way that I can get out there and play and strap my stuff up and be with my teammates.”

Vasher will be out there when the team reconvenes in Oxnard. Whether he’s still there on opening night of the regular season remains to be seen, but he’s off to a surprising start.

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3 Cowboys who have to step up with Gallup missing from passing game

The Dallas Cowboys will be without Michael Gallup early in the year and there are some options to have an expanded role in the passing game. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys had one of the best offenses in the NFL last season, finishing first in total yards and points scored. Soaring to the top of the offensive leaderboard was spurred by quarterback Dak Prescott’s return after a gruesome ankle injury ended his 2020 season.

Prescott helped turn around a passing game that churned out 282.4 yards a game, ranking second in the league. For a unit that likes to run the ball more than most teams, that’s an impressive feat by the Cowboys.

It also helped that Dallas had one of the best receiving groups in the game. Wide receivers Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup were meant to be an elite trio, but Gallup’s injuries paved the way for a bigger role from Cedrick Wilson, who cashed in with a career year. Add in Dalton Schultz’s stellar season at tight end and it’s easy to see why the offense was so successful through the air.

Much of that has changed heading into the new season. Cooper, who commanded the constant attention of defenses, is gone, as is Wilson. Lamb is now the the No. 1 WR in Dallas, but Gallup suffered a torn ACL injury in December and his status for the first part of the season is unknown. No Cooper or Gallup, at least for the early part of the schedule, means the offense is missing two 1,000-yard-capable receivers.

That leaves just Lamb and Schultz as familiar options in the passing game. The Cowboys need players to step up until Gallup is ready to return to full capacity, which might be later than his return to the field of play. Here are some of the options that could be a big part of the aerial attack early on in the season.

In uncertain WR room, Simi Fehoko eyes bigger role in Cowboys offense in 2022

The second-year Stanford star hopes to pack on a few pounds and work a hybridized role in what could be a very different Cowboys WR room. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Simi Fehoko took a bit of an extended path just to get to the NFL. And while some first-year players like Micah Parsons fast-track their way to superstardom right out of the gate in their rookie season, the fifth-rounder is taking the same kind of slow and steady learning curve that made him a first-team All Pac-12 receiver at Stanford.

Fehoko was on the field for just under a third of the Cowboys’ special teams plays in 2021. He saw a grand total of seven offensive snaps. He logged no official stats.

But doing his job as a piece of a larger machine instead of being “the guy” is all part of the learning process for the 6-foot-3-inch Utah native.

“At Stanford, we had a fairly complex playbook. But coming here, it’s more concept-driven,” Fehoko said last week in a sit-down interview with 105.3 The Fan’s Nosebleed Seats Podcast. “Like, for me in college, they were going to call, ‘You’re going deep. This is your play.’ Here, it’s more like, ‘Okay, this is the whole concept and if you happen to get the read that we’re looking for, then that’s where we’re going.’ So it was more conceptual learning rather than specific player-oriented calls.”

Fehoko got an early wake-up call that life as an NFL receiver would require a different set of tools.

“First day or second day in camp, I lined up one-on-one against Tre[von] Diggs,” Fehoko explained. “Ran a fade. He just full-on, OBJ-one-hand-intercepted. And then I was like, ‘Wow. He’s the man. Welcome to the NFL.'”

But he also got a warm welcome from someone who’s been there. Four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper took it upon himself to show Fehoko the ropes of life catching balls at the pro level.

“Coop is my guy. He was the first one, sort of, as the top guy, to take me under his wing. Us being a little bigger- he’s 220, normally, and I came in at 225, 227- he was one of those guys that took me under his wing and helped me out with one-on-one routes, or any routes in general. He was like, ‘Okay, sink your hips here,’ or, ‘As a DB, I see this and you would do this.’ I was like, ‘Okay, whatever you say, you’re right. I got you. I’ll just follow you any way you tell me to do.’ Obviously, it was awesome for me to have him as a mentor, and obviously, I’ll continue, hopefully, to have him as a mentor.”

Fehoko, like the rest of Cowboys Nation, can’t be sure that Cooper will be in Dallas next season. His high-dollar contract makes him a potential cut or trade target as the team looks to balance the budget. And with fellow receivers Michael Gallup, Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown, and Malik Turner also set to become free agents, Fehoko could theoretically be catapulted up the depth chart in very short order.

It’s something Fehoko hopes happens anyway, simply by virtue of having a full season under his belt. He’s already more mature than most returning rookies. Fehoko will turn 25 years old in just his second pro season, the result of him taking a two-year LDS mission trip to Korea before college.

“I’ll have a bigger role, I’d say, in the offense and in special teams. Talking with head coach McCarthy, he was saying, ‘Potentially, this year, you gain a little bit more weight and we can use you as more like a hybrid tight end-receiver-type body,’ which I have no problem doing. I played at a lot heavier weight in college. They made me lose weight here, so obviously gaining weight and playing at a higher weight isn’t a problem.”

An offseason in Texas could certainly help on that front. The self-professed steak fan has already paid visits to several well-known barbecue joints in the Metroplex. And while he admits to loving a good burger, the California college kid was too smart to get tricked into publicly declaring a favorite between cult rivals Whataburger and In-N-Out.

Packing on a few pounds before training camp may serve Fehoko well as he hopes to show off more of what many felt was his best trait coming out of Stanford: a knack for wrestling away balls in the air from more modestly-sized cornerbacks.

“That’s something that I’ve sort of loved, being a bigger frame, a bigger-body receiver, it sort of came a little more naturally,” he said. “DBs are not normally like Tre: a little taller, can jump out of the gym; they’re a little smaller, and obviously something that bigger bodies thrive on is contested catches.”

Fehoko and the Cowboys are hoping he’ll have more of a chance to thrive in 2022.

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Cowboys CB Jourdan Lewis added to COVID list, Tyron Smith out vs WFT

Jourdan Lewis was a late Friday add to the COVID watchlist, along with WR Simi Fehoko. Tyron Smith is out for the Week 16 contest. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Not every Christmas Eve surprise is a good one.

The Cowboys added cornerback Jourdan Lewis to the Reserve/COVID list on Friday. He joins safety Malik Hooker, defensive tackle Trysten Hill, and running back JaQuan Hardy. Defensive line coach Aden Durde and special teams assistant Matt Daniels are in the protocol, too.

Rookie wide receiver Simi Fehoko was also placed on the virus watchlist to end the week.

Left tackle Tyron Smith has been declared out for Week 16, as he continues to nurse an ankle injury in hopes of being ready for the postseason.

Running backs Ezekiel Elliott, Tony Pollard, and Corey Clement were all full participants during Friday’s session.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was limited in Friday’s walkthrough with foot soreness. Head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters that it’s not an issue that will affect Lawrence’s availability Sunday night.

First-year cornerback Nahshon Wright was also given a “limited” designation Friday.

Rookie safety Israel Mukuamu is listed as questionable with an illness that held him out of practice Thursday and Friday.

The news is worse for Washington.

Safety Landon Collins is out, as is cornerback William Jackson III, and defensive end Daniel Wise. Safety and special teams player Deshazor Everett will not play following a Thursday car wreck that claimed the life of a passenger in his car and left Everett himself hospitalized.

Running back Antonio Gibson is questionable with a toe injury; wide receiver Curtis Samuel is questionable with a hamstring.

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Malik Turner, Simi Fehoko among WRs waiting for Cowboys roster decision

Two Cowboys WRs are among many who have done all they could do in training camp and preseason; now they wait to see if it was enough. | From @ToddBrock24f7

And now, the wait.

With training camp and the preseason schedule behind them, the Cowboys coaching staff embarks on two days of long meetings and difficult decisions about who they’ll take with them into the regular season. Some players will launch or extend their dream of an NFL career. Some players will miss the 53-man roster but find a spot on the practice squad, where they’ll keep one foot in the door. For some, Tuesday’s cuts will be the end of the road.

Wide receivers Malik Turner and Simi Fehoko are two of the Cowboys who don’t yet know where they’ll land. Both played well during camp, but both find themselves trying to break in to a position group already bursting with talent. Four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper is a lock, as are second-year phenom CeeDee Lamb and still-rising star Michael Gallup. Cedrick Wilson and Noah Brown are proven Dallas veterans. There’s no guarantee the Cowboys will even take a sixth receiver into the season.

For players like Fehoko and Turner, Monday and Tuesday could prove to be the longest wait of their lives.

Fehoko is 23 years old, but it’s his first time with this unique brand of football uncertainty. A four-star recruit coming out of high school who went on to become one of the leading receivers in the history of Stanford’s storied program, the 6-foot-3-inch rookie has never experienced the possibility of not making a football team.

A fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in the spring, Fehoko finds himself on the proverbial bubble. So while the rest of the world viewed Sunday’s preseason finale against Jacksonville as a meaningless exhibition, for Fehoko, it was his last best chance to make an impression.

“For me, I try to make the best out of every opportunity that I get, and today was one of those days where I could just give everything I had,” the Utah native said after the loss. “I felt like I gave my 100 every single time, every time I was out there. The opportunities that I did get, I feel like I made the most of them.”

Fehoko caught just nine balls over the course of four preseason games. He was targeted four times on Sunday, logging three receptions for 21 yards. In-game opportunities are exceedingly rare; Fehoko knows his next chapter will likely be decided by something else. It’s how he looked in every practice, how hard he competed on every snap, how well he did all the unglamorous jobs he was asked to do.

“I had a couple more targets than I normally get, so for me, that’s huge as a receiver. Also, I got to play a little bit more on special teams, and that was awesome as well. Again, made the most of it.”

Turner, an undrafted free agent who’s on his third team and entering his fourth year in the league, knows that all too well. At this level, making it as a wide receiver often means fewer go routes and more grunt work.

“In college, you never expect to play special teams,” the Illinois product said Sunday. “But I kind of learned that if you’re on the bubble, this is what you’ve got to do.”

Turner caught his lone touchdown pass as a pro in 2019 when he started three games for the Seahawks at wide receiver. He was signed by Dallas last season and played in six contests, all on special teams. He snared three balls on Sunday out of five targets, giving him a total of ten catches on the 2021 preseason.

Like every other player on the bubble, he has no way of knowing if it was enough to earn a roster spot.

“I feel like if you ask any football player, they’re going to tell you no. There’s always more to be done,” Turner admitted. “But all I can say is I did the best I could do today and this entire training camp. Hopefully, in the eyes of the staff, it was enough for them.”

So for now, Fehoko and Smith wait, along with Brandon Smith, Aaron Parker, Osirus Mitchell, Johnnie Dixon, T.J. Vasher, and Stephen Guidry. Those wide receivers- and many other Cowboys players across nearly every position group- will learn their football fate by Tuesday afternoon.

“You never know what can happen,” Turner explained. “I’ve been in this situation a couple times. You don’t get too high, [or] too low. Whatever happens happens.”

Such is life on the NFL bubble.

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What We Learned: Cowboys rookie DT is ready, WR rotation tough to crack

If the dress rehearsal is to show how ready for the season a team is, the Cowboys stood to learn a few things about themselves in their third preseason tilt. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys are now 0-3 on the preseason after losing to the Houston Texans by the score of 20-14. They’ll have one more chance to get a win on their exhibition slate when they face off against the Jacksonville Jaguars before the regular season begins.

Losing isn’t fun, but the evaluations are more important than the team’s win-loss record in the preseason. The Cowboys did some good things in the loss, yet they still couldn’t come away with a win. Here’s what we learned in the latest preseason adventure for the Cowboys.

Simi Fehoko’s time to shine in Cowboys’ offense might be right around corner

Drafted as a big-play threat on Day 3, the time may not be too far off when Fehoko is filling a need within a potent Dallas offense. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys drafted WR Simi Fehoko in the fifth round out if Stanford to improve their overall depth at the position. Fehoko was the only offensive skill player the team drafted this year as they looked to improve upon one of the worst defensive performances in franchise history.

Fehoko is a big, strong prospect, who also has the speed to run away from defenders. After being a First-Team All-Pac 12 receiver during his junior season, Fehoko decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the draft. He’ll hope to provide big-play ability to the Cowboys’ offense.

Our profile countdown to the regular season continues with No. 81, WR Simi Fehoko.