At 6’4″ tall with 33 1/4 inch arms and legitimate 4.31 speed, Cornerback Chris Westry has the intangibles NFL coaches salivate over. As impressive as those intangibles are, they weren’t enough to get him drafted last year. Instead he ended up with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent and spent the entire 2019 season on their practice squad.
Fast forward a year later, with the year of development under his belt, and Chris Westry has his eyes set on something bigger. Entering Year 2, Westry is now trying to make the jump from the practice squad to the Dallas Cowboys active roster in 2020. He is probably a long shot to make such a jump right now, but it’s a shot just the same.
Chris Westry was a four-year starter at Kentucky, but was viewed by just about every draft analyst as a developmental player entering the 2019 NFL Draft. It’s a big reason why he didn’t hear his name called in any of the seven rounds, but despite that though, he now has a chance to be yet another undrafted gem for the Dallas Cowboys.
Westry has things you can’t teach (size, speed, length), which makes him a really intriguing developmental project. Sadly all of the coaches who were in his corner last year, like Kris Richard, are no longer employed by the Cowboys, so he now has to prove himself all over again. That could however work in his favor though.
Chris Westry’s biggest weakness as a rookie was struggling to flip his hips and run when covering smaller, more shifty wide receivers. That’s understandable for a player who is 6’4″ tall, but the hope is a year of development has corrected those issues. After all, it could’ve been as simple as playing with better technique.
If Westry has indeed taken a step in his development, he could very well find a role in Mike Nolan’s defense. It’s a defense that is expected to be much more versatile, which plays right in the hands of a player like No. 39. His unique intangibles could be used in a variety of different ways.
Chris Westry doesn’t have to be in every down player to make an impact with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020. He can be inserted into the game based on a certain matchup. Maybe it’s as a centerfield type of player where his height, speed, and range come into play. Or maybe as a tight end neutralizer. After all, the NFC East has some pretty good ones that need to be contained.
Whatever the role though, Chris Westry has some intriguing intangibles that could help him make the jump from practice squad to the active roster this season. He still very much a long shot to make such a jump, but it’s a shot nonetheless. Being buried on the depth chart and the shortened offseason makes things more difficult, but that’s sometimes the way the chips fall.
