Dallas’ WR1 Race Is Wide Open; Can a Newcomer Win the Job?

• Dez Bryant is gone and that leaves the door open for a new number one target in Dallas. Sportsbooks have odds on who will earn the coveted role.
• Can incumbents Cole Beasley or Terrance Williams win the spot?
• Or will one of four new additions impress in preseason and claim the job?
  

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The Dallas Cowboys enter the 2018 season with an open competition at wide receiver. Sportsbooks have released a prop for who will claim Dallas’ WR1 position from the candidates below.

Who Will Be the Cowboys’ WR1 for Week 1

In 2017, Dez was the top dog in Dallas. His 69 receptions, 133 targets, 838 yards and six touchdowns lead the team in all categories. That being said, his production still declined, he was a huge hit on the salary cap, and he had fallen out of favor in the locker room. Bryant’s release, coupled with the retirement of TE Jason Witten and the departure of WR Brice Butler in free agency, leaves only Terrance Williams and his 568 yards from Dallas’ top-four 2017 receivers.

New Cowboys WRs coach Sanjay Lal on Terrance Williams: "I'm getting to know Terrance and the tenacity and the toughness really stick out to me. He's really changed his stride pattern and his drive phase."

— Brandon George (@DMN_George) August 11, 2018

Though Williams has been with Dallas his whole five-year career and has the most career yards of anyone on the list above, he also has the longest odds alongside rookie Michael Gallup. This could be because he had the fewest yards of his career in 2017, only caught one ball of 40-plus yards, and didn’t score a single touchdown.

The other returning receiver is slot man Cole Beasley, who has proved a reliable short-distance option during his career. However, his stats slumped across the board in 2017. He posted the lowest mark since his 2012 rookie season in almost every major category. On the bright side, he did manage four touchdowns, which was only one fewer than the five he had each of the previous two years.

Career Stats

Despite the down year, Beasley seems to have the trust of QB Dak Prescott as conveyed during an interview with NFL Network.

“For me, it’s [the safety net] Cole Beasley. I think it’s been that way. I know it was that way my rookie year and last year we were on the same page sometime and sometimes we weren’t. But he’s a guy who’s hard to cover. He’s hard to cover in man to man, hard to cover in zone and he can stretch the defense as well. It’s about moving him around, making the defense respect the fact he can go over the top, he can beat you over the top. Once we open that up, he’s hard to cover underneath and that’s his game.”

“[Cole Beasley is] a guy who’s hard to cover. He’s hard to cover in man to man, hard to cover in zone and he can stretch the defense as well.” ~ Dallas QB Dak Prescott.

Offseason Acquisitions

A host of new bodies enter Cowboys’ camp looking to claim the WR1 position including the four below.

Allen Hurns

Hurns joins Dallas after four years in Jacksonville. In his second year in the league (2015), he recorded 1,031 yards and ten touchdowns. However he’s suffered through two injury-plagued years since then and only has 961 yards and five touchdownscombined the past two seasons.

Tavon Austin

Austin is an intriguing option as he doesn’t necessarily have a defined position. The Rams listed him as a wide receiver but he had more yards rushing than receiving last year (270 to 47) and scored is lone TD on the ground, as well. While he has more career receiving yards than rushing yards (1,689 to 1,238) and has been lining up as a receiver in practice, NFL.com has him listed as a running back.

"They are taking an opportunity on me and I’ve been getting the best of it.”
Sixth-year veteran @Tayaustin01 is bringing genuine energy and leadership to the young and revamped receiver group.

? https://t.co/FcpKAgHTrm pic.twitter.com/tJREHysMUl

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) August 4, 2018

Deonte Thompson

Thompson has played bit parts with three teams in his career. Over his first four years, he never played more than seven games in a season. He did play the full 16 games each of the past two seasons, though. While splitting time between Chicago and Buffalo in 2017, he reached a career-high in yards (555) and tied a career-high in TDs (2).

The Rookie: Michael Gallup

Third-round pick (81st overall) Michael Gallup is also in the running to be the WR1. Gallup, drafted out of Colorado State, had the second-most receiving yards in the Mountain West Conference last year with 1,418. He piled up those yards on a tidy 100 receptions, while also hauling in seven touchdowns. Over his two-years at CSU, his stat line read: 26 games, 176 receptions, 2,690 yards, 21 TDs, and 15.3 yards per catch.

Looks like a lot of you are excited to see Michael Gallup play tonight, here's his route tree from 2017. #CowboysNation pic.twitter.com/1MQsGCJXRs

— PFF DAL Cowboys (@PFF_Cowboys) August 10, 2018

Preseason Week 1: Dallas 21 @ San Francisco 24

The Cowboys and 49ers met in Week 1 of the preseason with Dallas falling a field-goal short. Dallas was holding onto a 21-10 lead with 8.5 minutes to go before giving up the lead with 18 seconds left. The game was an opportunity for many of these receivers to get their first game action and stand out from the crowd. Overall, 16 different players recorded at least one catch in the game.

Dak Prescott played 10 snaps Thursday. WR snaps Michael Gallup 8, Allen Hurns 6, Terrance Williams 5, Tavon Austin 3.

— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) August 13, 2018

Each of Hurns (1 reception/13 yards), Austin (2/25), Gallup (1/30) and Williams (2/7) found the stat sheet. Gallup made the biggest impact as his lone 30-yard reception was also for a touchdown.

Pick

Tavon Austin +210

This truly looks like a wide-open competition, backed up by the fact that every option on this prop offers plus-money. By all accounts, Austin has been impressing in camp and offers the most diversity in the passing game. For more on Austin, you can listen to a quick interview clip from Dak, below.

.@Dak with some great stuff on the WR's, including a glowing review of what Tavon Austin has done so far in camp, and how he has come to realize that Austin is much more than a gadget guy.#CowboysCamp #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/EAN02BW5hA

— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) August 15, 2018