The Dallas Cowboys currently have a pretty impressive and talented group of wide receivers on the roster. But, one of them stands out above the rest in my opinion. No, I’m not talking about Amari Cooper, who the Cowboys sent a first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders to acquire via trade last year. I’m talking about second-year WR Michael Gallup.
I know what a quite a few of you may be thinking right now. Michael Gallup? Really!? My answer to that is…YES! In fact, I would go as far as saying I believe Gallup will end up being the most important receiver on the Dallas Cowboys roster in 2019 and I’ll tell you why.
Not only is Michael Gallup expected to make a big leap from his rookie season, but many are projecting a breakout year from the former Colorado State WR. If the small sample size we saw from him by the way he played in preseason and in the season opener against the New York Giants is any indication, I think we can all agree with that assessment. He’s looked every bit the playmaker so far, and then some.
But, let’s get back to why I believe he’s going to be the most important WR for the Dallas Cowboys this year. First of all, it has a lot to do with current red flags at the position and unfortunately there are quite a few of them.
Nearly all of the receivers, with the exception of Gallup, currently carry a little bit of health concerns heading into the 2019 season. Amari Cooper missed all of preseason with a foot injury. Tavon Austin and Randall Cobb missed the majority of 2018 with injuries. And, Devin Smith’s entire NFL career thus far has been derailed/setback because of several devastating knee injuries.
We can all hope the Cowboys WRs can put their injuries behind them and stay completely healthy for the entire season this year, but nevertheless it’s still a pretty big concern. That’s especially true in Cooper’s case as the WR1. He was an absolute difference maker when he arrived in Dallas last year and changed the entire trajectory of the Cowboys 2018 season.
Unfortunately, foot injuries have a tendency to linger if not allowed to fully heal. So, if he were to miss any amount of time it would have a pretty big impact on the Cowboys passing game, or so it would seem. This is where Michael Gallup’s importance comes into play.
Not only does Gallup not carry any past injury concerns, but he has looked like he is more than capable of picking up the slack if Amari Cooper missed time due to an injury. After all, isn’t that what he’s pretty much been doing in preseason while Cooper was out nursing his foot injury? And doing it quite well if I might add.
We all hope the entire Dallas Cowboys roster is able to stay healthy throughout the 2019 season, especially the receiver position, but that’s probably wishful thinking if we are being honest with ourselves. That means someone is going to have to step up and luckily players like Michael Gallup seem ready to answer the call.
