Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup has appeared in 11 games since returning from his ACL injury, and five have seen him haul in two or fewer receptions.
I am not hitting the panic button yet, but the lack of production from the third-round pick worries me a bit.
After only having one catch against the Jaguars and two against the Texans a week prior, OC Kellen Moore said he needs to do a better job of getting him going.
“Obviously, he's a big part of this offense, and he's had a couple of really good games for us, and he's certainly a guy that we have to get going,” Moore said. “When Michael's going, that presents big challenges for the defense.”
With the possibility of TY Hilton's debut this weekend against Philly, Moore might have his chance to get Gallup some easy looks.
Noah Brown has been a great story for Dallas and is a good No. 3 type of guy, but on money downs, the ball should be in the hands of CeeDee Lamb or Gallup. We understand that Lamb will be the main focus of the defense, and Gallup has yet to get it going outside of a few games.
Cowboys WR Michael Gallup had only one catch against the Jaguars. He had only two the week before against the Texans.
Cowboys OC Kellen Moore: “I gotta do a better job getting Michael going. That's on me. Just getting him more opportunities.”
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 20, 2022
I am not making this post to worry about the trade of Amari Cooper in the off-season, and we must let that go and focus on who is taking the field for the Cowboys on gameday.
When targeted, Gallup looked like his old self, high-pointing the football and hauling third and fourth down catches in the clutch to keep the drives moving.
The Cowboys score nearly 30 points a game, and Gallup has not contributed much lately. You can't tell me that they don't try to have a few calls intended for him every week they go into a game, and yet Moore noted he needs to do a better job getting him going.
I hope Saturday he has his breakout party, the only problem I don't want the offense to run into is trying to force him to the ball early and have to punt. Moore should be able to find favorable matchups with the Eagles' defense by running for positive yards and then letting play action handle it.
If the Cowboys want to keep teams guessing, Gallup will need to become a regular part of the offense again. I am not hitting the panic button just yet because the team is still scoring at an extremely high level.
If he can find himself again, it will only increase the level of production from the offense, and they may need it with how the injury bug has hit the Cowboys' defense.
We sure do talk about many negatives for a 10-4 football team and need more about the positives. This team is good, and they need to be CONSISTENT, and that is the biggest key for them to win in the postseason and getting Gallup back on track is a tremendous way they can help fix that.
Eyes are on you Kellen Moore.
