Few teams in the NFL could absorb a loss like the Dallas Cowboys suffered when Wide Receiver Michael Gallup was lost for the season with a torn ACL in Week 17 against the Arizona Cardinals. However, the Cowboys have a lot of talent at wide receiver and one in particular, Cedrick Wilson, is more than capable of handling the load.
Coming into the Cowboys' season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson was set to go back to being the team's third option at wide receiver. Wilson stepped up and delivered with a career-high 119 yards and tied a career-high with two touchdown receptions in the Cowboys 51-26 annihilation of the Eagles.
.@dak to @cedwilson95 for #DallasCowboys TD 🙌
📺 : #DALvsPHI on ESPN/ABC#WPMOYChallenge Prescott pic.twitter.com/Epfpyj6KkN
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) January 9, 2022
For the 2nd time tonight, @dak hits @cedwilson95 for a TD!
📺: #DALvsPHI on ESPN/ABC
📱: https://t.co/db0DaDFSBa pic.twitter.com/sSQRQrNA5g— NFL (@NFL) January 9, 2022
Saturday night wasn't the first time this season that Wilson has come up big. In the Cowboys' Week 6 overtime win against the New England Patriots, Wilson caught a crucial fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter that kept the drive alive and led to the game-tying field goal. A week later against the Minnesota Vikings, Wilson picked up 84 yards and a touchdown and even completed a 35-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb. On Thanksgiving with Amari Cooper out due to COVID and Lamb out with a concussion, Wilson amassed 104 yards on seven receptions albeit in a three-point loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Wilson lead a well-rounded performance by the Cowboys' pass catchers that included Cooper gaining 79 yards, Lamb making a few spectacular catches, and Tight End Dalton Schultz snagging two touchdowns.
The four-year veteran spoke about how productive the Cowboys can be through the air when they are hitting on all cylinders.
“We can put up big numbers if we're all snapping,” Wilson said. “We have a few guys that don't even get touches, and they were part of the offense as well. It goes to our preparation in practice, when everybody gets in, and when we can roll it over into the game.”
Wilson will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason and so will Gallup. Of course, the Cowboys will try to bring Gallup back and they should. However, with how well Wilson has performed, and his much smaller price tag, losing Gallup is something the Cowboys can deal with if that's the case.
Gallup is the better player between himself and Wilson, no one who is smart would argue that. Sometimes though, a certain player may fit what a team wants to do a little more even if another player may be on a higher level. Wilson is a true slot guy so when he's on the field Lamb slides to the outside with Cooper and that combination has looked more fluent for the Cowboys in 2021.
The Cowboys' have an embarrassment of riches at the receiver position. Losing Gallup this offseason would hurt a ton, but Wilson has established himself as someone Dak Prescott and the Cowboys can trust to be a great complement to Cooper and Lamb and keep the passing attack in Dallas as one of the NFL's best.
