Dallas Cowboys select Jalen Tolbert at wide receiver

With the Dallas Cowboys still needed to address several positions and waited until the third round to address wide receiver. As the draft was wearing on, Nakobe Dean was still falling far enough for the Cowboys to reach up if they wanted. Instead, Dean went a few picks ahead of the Cowboys to the Philadelphia Eagles.

With some options at wide receiver, tight end, safety, and offensive line, the Cowboys decided it was time to add to the receiving corps and select Jalen Tolbert out of South Alabama

With the top three receivers being CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, and James Washington, and not knowing how many games Gallup will miss, the Cowboys added Tolbert to help the position. More of a perimeter receiver, he did have some snaps in the slot his senior year. There are some things Tolbert needs to clean up at the next level, but his traits are intriguing.

With their third-round pick, the Dallas Cowboys add to their wide receiver corps with Jalen Tolbert out of South Alabama.

The upsides to Tolbert are he does well to track the ball in the air and adjust to make some really nice catches. More smooth than fast, he does well to change his pace and hesitate during his route to create separation. He uses his height and length well to high point and contest for 50/50 balls. He had a record-breaking year at South Alabama.

Tolbert will need to work on the concentration drops that popped up on his film, while he has strong hands, sometimes will get a little loose with the football. He doesn’t have a deep speed or second gear to outrun a defender and didn’t show a lot of broken tackles.

He will tip his route a little too often and allows himself to get pinched on the sideline. The level of competition is a question but did well against Tennessee as the only D1 opponent.

Tolbert has a lot of traits to like and some of his route issues look fairly easy to fix. While he isn’t quite the deep threat many wanted, he is the size and frame many wanted on the outside.

This move allows the Cowboys to move CeeDee Lamb around a little more and if Tolbert can learn the nuance of the slot more, this could help mismatches. A solid pickup in the third round should help while Michael Gallup is recovering at the start of the season.

• Published on 04/30/2022 at 03:09 AM
• Last updated at 04/30/2022 at 03:11 AM