Like any competitor, Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Cole Beasley wants to play and be as heavily involved as possible when the lights come on and the game is on the line. He’s become accustomed to to being heavily involved in the game plan, that is until WR Amari Cooper arrived in Dallas.
Since the arrival of Amari Cooper, Cole Beasley has seen his offensive role dramatically reduced. He is no longer Quarterback Dak Prescott’s favorite target in the passing game and it even looks as if he is taken a stumble down the Cowboys WR depth chart. At best, he is their WR3 now behind Cooper and Michael Gallup.
That’s quite a fall from grace for a player who was Dallas’ top receiver the last few seasons and the most targeted in the first half of this year. I can almost guarantee he’s not happy about not being utilized more in the passing game, but he’s a team player and will do what it takes to win.
Unfortunately for Beasley, Cooper’s arrival has changed the Cowboys offense. He is back to his old role of working the short intermediate routes now with Cooper and Gallup playing on the outside. Because of that his stats have taken a hit. His targets, receptions, and the chance to help his team win has dropped off significantly.
In the two games before Cooper joined the team, Beasley had 16 receptions for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 19 targets. The six games since he only has 17 catches for 138 yards on 26 targets. That’s a huge drop in production and has nothing to do with his performance. It’s how he’s being utilized.
Beasley has been forced to take a backseat in the Cowboys aerial attack. Amari Cooper has been highly targeted, and rightfully so, and Michael Gallup is seeing more passes thrown his way as well. Not to mention, Ezekiel Elliott has been used more as a receiver also.
There are just too many mouths to feed and unfortunately Cole Beasley is the odd man out. The sad thing is, that might not change anytime soon with the way the Cowboys offense is playing right now. It’s one of the reasons why they currently have the league’s best winning streak going for them.
It’s to hard make an argument for Beasley receiving more looks in the passing game with the way the offense is playing, with the exception of in the red zone, but I do believe he needs to be more involved. After all, he is still one of the Cowboys best WRs and can’t be covered by anyone in the league one-on-one.
I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping things will circle back around and he will once again be more involved in the passing game. His ability to get open is uncanny and it’s a shame to not take advantage of that God-given gift.
