Can Jalen Tolbert catch the third-year receiver lightning in 2024?

2024 Roster Review: Back-up wide receivers – Part 6 of 17. Click here to view all articles in this series.

It has long been a known strategy in fantasy football to keep an eye on a wide receiver entering his third year. For whatever reason, a switch is thrown and they ignite.

Dallas’ Jalen Tolbert will be entering his third year when the 2024 season kicks off.

With the likely departure of Michael Gallup later this year, Tolbert’s path to a breakout season seems clear.

Even if Gallup somehow stays, Tolbert has a very good chance of taking away Gallup’s starting role. He would team up with CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks nicely.

About the only way Tolbert isn’t a starter on opening day is if the Cowboys go out and sign a top free agent or draft a receiver early on.

But they may not necessarily need to.

The Case For Tolbert

Tolbert was active for all 17 games last year. He even started in six of them.

He was targeted 36 times, catching 22 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

The only game in those six starts that he failed to record at least one catch was the 42-10 loss to the 49ers. No one had a good game for Dallas that day.

He had an impressive run last November, starting three of the Cowboys’ five games that month as Dallas went 4-1.

Tolbert caught 10 of the 19 passes thrown in his direction for 129 yards and a touchdown. He closed out the year with a solid three-game run too.

Catching five of the six targets for 68 yards, Tolbert scored his second touchdown of the season to open the scoring against Washington in the season finale.

At 6-1, 195 pounds he is almost the exact size as Gallup. And he doesn’t have the injury issues hanging over his head as Gallup does.

In Tolbert’s final two years at South Alabama he had receiving yards of 1,085 (64 catches) and 1,474 (82 catches) and had eight touchdowns in each year.

In short, if Dallas cannot land a top free agent receiver, or find one in the draft, they may have an ace up their sleeve anyway.

If Tolbert Fails To Launch

If Tolbert doesn’t catch that third-year lightning the Cowboys still have another option that showed glimpses of promising things to come in 2023.

Jalen Brooks saw action in seven games last year but none as a starter.

The 6-2, 205-pound rookie from South Carolina was taken in the 7th round of the draft last year. He might yet prove to be a steal.

Brooks finished the year with just six catches and 64 yards. But he caught all six balls that were thrown to him.

His best game of the year came in the 49-17 pounding of the New York Giants.

Brooks caught four passes for 39 yards. Three went for first downs.

If he starts seeing more game time he might jump over Gallup and Tolbert.

A New Coach Could Be The Key

Former Boston College offensive coordinator Steve Shimko was hired by the Cowboys this week as an offensive assistant.

He was most noted for his work and use of Zay Flowers – who is coming off a solid rookie season with the Ravens.

Not only will Shimko’s coaching help elevate Lamb and Cooks, he should be able to help both Tolbert and Brooks take the next step at the professional level.

Even if Dallas settles for picking up another receiver late in the draft or a lower-tier free agent, Shimko should be able to improve the position group.

That improvement could be the last piece of the puzzle the Cowboys have been looking for to get back to the Super Bowl.