Dallas Cowboys Draft: 7 Wide Receivers for 7 Rounds

Tre Walker, San Jose State

Value: Good

The last receiver on this list played his college ball in the Mountain West and was an integral part of the more popular Group of 5 programs of the 2020 season in San Jose State. At 5-foot-11, 178 pounds, Walker had a poor performance at his pro day. However, paying sole attention to his testing would be malpractice by any scouting department.

The Spartan was incredibly productive his final three seasons in San Jose accumulating 163 receptions, 2500 receiving yards, and 11 receiving touchdowns. Walker’s most important trait is his competitive toughness and mental processing, both of which he uses to play bigger than his size and general athletic ability.

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He projects to the slot at the next level partly because of his frame but also because how he wins. He uses his solid agility and acceleration to challenge DBs on free releases and then has the instincts to challenge the leverage of the DBs hips in phase using foot fakes to separate in the short and intermediate areas of the field. He can separate and stack defenders deep by widening his route stem while running deep.

Unfortunately, he does struggle against press coverage because of his adequate play strength that can cause delayed releases and disrupt the timing in his route stem. He also doesn’t have the play speed to consistently threaten the defensive backfield deep as his foot speed is solid at best.

Walker likely wouldn’t satisfy McCarthy with his build but Walker has been productive for some time in a conference that has been solid at producing late-round receivers. His competitive toughness and desire to win shouldn’t be overlooked because he intellect and instincts in the slot could come in handy for any team.

Stylistically, he’d fit in the slot with Lamb and when Gallup leaves, he could be a possible solution to the team’s WR3 hole in a Cole Beasley-esque way. They both win in very similar ways, it isn’t an out-of-order comparison?

That is the end of this 7-of-a-position. Perhaps the biggest observation I made was that the wide receiving talent severely regressed after the third round with more reserve talents in the mix. Hopefully the Dallas Cowboys pick up on this as well.