Dallas City News

It is admittedly difficult. There are players who we just cannot quit when it comes to letting our imaginations run away from us during Dallas Cowboys training camp. There are varying degrees of this with the likes of Matt Johnson serving at the extreme end of the spectrum (Danny Coale is another), but generally speaking there are players who we simply cannot allow ourselves to believe are not going to click at a certain point.

Maybe that is what is happening here. Perhaps it’s just chugging the kool-aid and double-fisting at that. But I told myself a few months ago that I was not sold on the idea of Jalen Tolbert as the WR3.

The argument centered around the idea that Tolbert was not a proper WR3 just because he occupied the spot on the depth chart. The Cowboys did relatively nothing in free agency (this isn’t about that) which means that in letting go of Michael Gallup they firmly planted themselves into the belief zone for Tolbert as WR3 with CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks manning things up front.

It appears their belief may have been well placed.

Jalen Tolbert is showing out throughout camp so far and maybe it is really happening

We are now on the second full week of training camp for the Cowboys and this one will be hectic as it involves a scrimmage against the Los Angeles Rams and a preseason contest against them at the end of it.

Jalen Tolbert will likely play little if at all during the preseason so the most we will get to see of him (and the rest of the Cowboys starters for that matter) will be in the scrimmage. Assuming CeeDee Lamb is still not in camp by then, hardly a bold assumption right now, that would give Tolbert very legitimate opportunities against another NFL defense.

Opportunity has been the word of choice when it has come to talking about Tolbert. Dak Prescott and Brian Schottenheimer have both noted how hungry Tolbert is for the opportunity (no pun intended) to prove himself and that he capitalizes on any and every chance to work with Prescott in the name of building chemistry. That may sound like a football cliché, but it is starting to really show up.

These are a few highlights from Tolbert just from Monday’s practice. Camp is littered with them since it began.

These are “just” training camp practices and a lot of what we are seeing is in 7-on-7 action, hardly in the same sort of speed and intensity that an NFL game would bring. Again, it will be fun to watch him against the Rams.

But the second clip here is the one that is perhaps the most intriguing and exciting. If Tolbert truly does have a level of chemistry with Prescott then he has the chance to become a bit of a target darling for him. It is those types of relationships that can often be very fruitful in various NFL offenses and perhaps these two are on the precipice of it.

Are you buying the hype, though? Or have you been burned too many times by different people in the past? Perhaps even Tolbert himself.

Let us know.