Cowboys hot topic: Jalen Tolbert has gradually turned into a reliable weapon

Once the 2022 offseason came about, the Dallas Cowboys needed to find another weapon at wide receiver behind CeeDee Lamb and the now retired Michael Gallup. They ended up taking Jalen Tolbert out of South Alabama in the third round, who was fresh off of winning Offensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt conference. He came into the league having played several spots at the position in college, making him an intriguing prospect with some upside.

As a late Day 2 pick, Tolbert wasn’t expected to come in and dominate by any means. However, the WR3 role was firmly up for grabs, and he was seen as the perfect guy to fill that spot. Unfortunately for Tolbert, he struggled to establish himself as he would only log two receptions in eight games. Going into the 2023 season, the aforementioned Gallup clearly wasn’t the same guy after his ACL tear, meaning Tolbert had the opportunity to compete for the WR2 spot. However, the team signed veteran Brandin Cooks, which essentially put Tolbert as the fourth guy in the pecking order. Despite this, Tolbert would play 477 snaps, and towards the end of the season, it was apparent that he and quarterback Dak Prescott were building trust between them. Tolbert ended up having four games with a perfect catch percentage and finished with 22 receptions for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cowboys moved on from Gallup in the offseason, giving Tolbert another shot to firmly lock down a big role in the passing game. He came in as the clear favorite for WR3, and over the last couple of games, Tolbert has looked like an extremely solid piece behind Lamb. After catching all three of his targets against the New York Giants, the former third-rounder had his coming out party against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week. Tolbert set single-game career-highs in receptions (7) and yards (87) and topped it off with the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left. For the season, Tolbert has 20 receptions for 247 yards and two touchdowns with 12 first down receptions.

With Cooks out for a few more weeks with a knee issue, Tolbert can lock down being the second option for the Cowboys through the air. Cooks is an unrestricted free agent in 2025, which means Dallas has to get the WR2 spot solidified for the future. After the Cowboys win over the Steelers, Tolbert spoke on how he’s been patiently waiting to do just that.

I work hard for this. Obviously, God has given me the talent and ability to be able to continue to work and continue to get better, and so I give him all the glory for it. I’ve been working for years for this and waiting on my opportunity, waiting on the time where I would be able to get more offensive snaps or get more targets, whatever it may be.

Whenever that moment comes, you’ve got to be able to be ready for it. I think that’s something that we emphasized all week.

Tolbert will only get more confident, and Prescott’s trust in him will increase the more he keeps producing. The arrow continues to point up for Tolbert, and the Cowboys need it desperately without a consistent running game at the moment.