Dallas Cowboys Free Agency: WR Will Fuller would be huge for offense

Let’s talk Will Fuller, Dallas Cowboys fans. For those who are familiar with him, they know he’s an explosive outside wide receiver with unteachable speed and a knack for taking the top of defenses. They probably also know he’s a former first round pick who has one of the most significant big play rates in the NFL.

And if they know those first two things, they probably know he’s injury-prone to the extent he’s never played a full season schedule in any of his six years in the NFL. And that’s a trend that’s highly unlikely to change for the 27-year-old field-stretcher.

As long as the Dallas Cowboys aren’t relying on Will Fuller to carry the offense, he could be a great free agent addition in 2022

Since entering the NFL in 2016, Will Fuller is every bit as advertised. Blessed with speed you can’t teach, a knack for creating space, and finding that extra gear when the ball is in the air, Fuller has become one of the NFL’s preeminent deep threats over the years.

While deep routes are his bread and butter, that’s not his entire arsenal with Fuller showing he can run the full tree from the Z position, causing fits for opposing coverages. More telling than his raw numbers are the impact he’s made on those around him.

When Fuller was matched with DeAndre Hopkins in Houston, Deshaun Watson’s yards/attempt jumped from 7.6 to 8.8 yards/attempt. His threat boosted the entire offense.

Some may say I’m burying the lead with Will Fuller since I’ve just barely touched on his sorted injury history. The truth is, that injury history is what’s working in the Dallas Cowboys favor.

The last thing Stephen Jones is going to do is spend big money on elite talent in free agency. And if it wasn’t for Fuller’s injuries, that’s exactly what he’d be. In fact, he’d probably be setting the market.

Fuller’s injury history is what makes him an option for the Dallas Cowboys

Stephen likes to find the Dallas Cowboys bargains. He’s looking for reclamation projects. He wants those low-risk/high-reward kind of deals that make him look brilliant. That’s what Will Fuller is right now.

Coming off his worst statistical season as a pro where Fuller only played in two games and caught four balls, his market has never been lower. If last year was a 1-year/$10 million prove-it year, this year will be a fraction of that. No one is going to throw big money or a multi-year commitment at Will Fuller this offseason and that puts him front and center in Stephen Jones’ bargain bin.

What makes him such a good fit in Dallas is the role he’ll be asked to play and the cast of characters around him. We know CeeDee Lamb will be starting along side him and we hope Amari Cooper will be there as well. Dallas may even bring Cedrick Wilson back (I’m not optimistic on Michael Gallup).

The Cowboys won’t be relying on Fuller to be healthy each week, they should still have one of the NFL’s top-5 offenses without him. But with him? It should add an entirely new dimension to the attack.

For as good as Lamb and Cooper are, they aren’t prototypical deep threats. They don’t have that blazing deep speed and typically lean on their route-running and in-air adjustments to make plays on deep balls. Fuller just takes the top off.

The Dallas Cowboys (like many NFL teams) need to add some deep speed to their offense. It would stretch defenses and create more opportunity for others. Will Fuller is one of the best field stretchers in the NFL. He can’t stay healthy and we shouldn’t expect him to, but he’ll be abnormally affordable this year and could make the Dallas Cowboys unstoppable in 2022.

If you’re looking for low-risk/high-reward, few are better than Will Fuller.

• Published on 02/28/2022 at 13:53 PM
• Last updated at 02/28/2022 at 13:53 PM