One of the big questions hanging over the Dallas Cowboys right now is whether or not Wide Receiver Michael Gallup will be ready to play in September. If the starting wideout does miss regular-season games, who is most likely to see a jump in targets until he gets back?
Gallup’s recovery from last year’s torn ACL is expected to keep him out of training camp and the preseason at a minimum. Some believe that it’s not a question of if Michael will miss games in September, or even October, but just how many before he returns.
As one of Dak Prescott’s favorite targets when he plays, Gallup’s absence will open up a lot of targets for other receiving options. Naturally, we first look to the WR depth chart for guys who will get a bigger share while he’s out. But what about some of the other offensive positions?
Obviously the guy who moves up to WR2 is the first candidate to see a production spike. But even that is uncertain right now as veteran James Washington and rookie Jalen Tolbert appear to be headed into a competition. Both will likely see an uptick in targets while Gallup’s out but one in particular will be the temporary starter, giving him greater opportunity.
What about the other pass-catchers at tight end? It wasn’t long ago that Jason Witten was often the second-most productive receiver in Dallas’ offense. Could Dalton Schultz see an even bigger jump in his stats from the last two years? Especially if defenses are keying on CeeDee Lamb, Schultz could be the biggest beneficiary of all.
The effect on tight ends could even trickle down to Sean McKeon or Jake Ferguson. Whoever emerges as TE2 this year could see a bump in snaps if Gallup misses time. Dallas may employ more two-TE formations depending on who’s performing best between the backups at either WR or TE.
What about Tony Pollard? We’ve talked about the running back’s potential as a receiver for three years and now the opportunity to see it is here like never before. Could creative use of Pollard, or even a healthy Ezekiel Elliott for that matter, give the RBs a higher volume of targets in the passing game?
Is there an ideal scenario here? Sure, seeing Jalen Tolbert immediately produce as WR2 would be exciting and beneficial. But so would getting the ball into Tony Pollard’s hands more and seeing him explode on opposing defenses.
Of course, our hope is that Michael Gallup doesn’t miss a single game. But assuming he has to, it’s going to come down to Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore’s utilization of various assets to keep the offense flowing. It may not come down to just one guy picking up the slack, but rather he and Dak Prescott keeping everyone involved and keeping defenses guessing.
