At Last, Brian Schottenheimer Pulls the Trigger on the WR Move Cowboys Fans Have Been Begging For—Can This Change Everything?QQ
It’s about time!
It’s becoming clearer by the game that the Dallas Cowboys have the most explosive offense in the NFL. It is also becoming clear that they have the best wide receiver room in football.
Thursday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs was perhaps the greatest blend yet of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. The latter got off to a slower start, so the offense went through Lamb for the first three quarters before Pickens came through with some clutch receptions in the fourth quarter.
Lamb caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, while Pickens grabbed six passes for 88 yards and a big two-point conversion. The offense runs through them, but a key decision from Brian Schottenheimer has helped the unit tap into its full potential: promoting Ryan Flournoy to the WR3 role.
Cowboys have finally taken the kids glove off with Ryan Flournoy
Cowboys fans have been pounding the table for Flournoy to supplant Jalen Tolbert as the third receiver in the offense. That drumbeat had been consistent with KaVontae Turpin as well, but he’s quietly compiled 113 yards from scrimmage the last two weeks.
Tolbert was the bigger sticking point, however, and Flournoy has finally overtaken the former third-round pick.
As great as Lamb and Pickens are, Dak Prescott can’t target them on every dropback. The Cowboys needed an efficient third option, and Flournoy is that to a tee. He caught all three targets against the Chiefs for 34 yards. He moved the chains on one reception and tallied 14 yards after the catch.
A sixth-round pick last year, Flournoy has the talent to be one of the more reliable WR3s in the league. That isn’t going to happen with Lamb and Pickens dominating the target share.
However, he’s a better player than Tolbert. For some reason, it was Tolbert who saw most of the WR3 burn early in the year. That finally changed after the bye week, as Tolbert has played just 21 passing snaps since Week 7. That included being a healthy scratch against the Eagles last week.
Flournoy, meanwhile, has logged 98 passing snaps since Week 7, including 39 in the last two games, per Pro Football Focus. He hasn’t seen a ton of volume, but he’s made the most of his opportunities, catching seven of 10 targets for 55 yards and two touchdowns.
Swapping Tolbert for Flournoy might seem like a subtle change, but it has raised the floor of an offense that had little room for improvement.
It took way longer than it should have, but the Flournoy takeover is here to stay.
