Breaking down the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver depth chart
By Randy Gurzi
Unquestioned No. 1 Wideout: Amari Cooper
The offense was hard to watch for the first seven games of the 2018 season. Dak Prescott was forcing the ball to Allen Hurns, Cole Beasley, Tavon Austin, Deonte Thompson and tight end Geoff Swaim. None were necessarily bad players, but they were also asked to do more than they were capable of.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
Without a true No. 1 wideout, these players were easy to slow down. Not only that, but the running game was hurting too as defenders could stack the box without fear of being beaten consistently.
Finally, Dallas admitted the error in their ways of moving on from Dez Bryant without a suitable replacement. They set out to fix this issue by giving the Raiders a first-round pick for Amari Cooper who had an immediate impact.
The entire offense looked better and they ended up turning a 3-5 start to a 10-6 record which was enough to claim the NFC East crown. In his nine games with Dallas, Cooper ended up with 53 receptions for 725 yards and six touchdowns. Projected over a full 16-game season, that would have been 94 catches for 1,289 yards and 11 scores.
Should Cooper continue at that pace, this will look like one of the bigger steals — which would be incredible considering the amount of grief the team took for making the trade in the first place.
Entering this season, Cooper and the Boys are in the midst of a contract negotiation as he’s in the last year of his rookie deal. While those discussions are reportedly far off, they didn’t trade for him as a rental. Surely something will get done and he will only continue to drive up his price the better he plays.