Dallas Cowboys 2023 UDFA profiles – Who are these guys?

Dallas Cowboys UDFAs

With the Dallas Cowboys needing help at tight end and wide receiver, they are leaving no stone unturned as they pick up John Stephens, Jr. out of Louisiana. Stephens offers the speed at tight end that they are looking for with the possibility of splitting him out. He is listed as both a tight end and a wide receiver, for this I am listing him at tight end, mostly due to his overall speed, height, and frame. He will need to be on the practice squad, but he does play special teams.

Stephens has a large frame which gives the quarterback a huge radius to throw at. He made some really nice catches in one on one matchups with his reach and range. He is a willing blocker in the run game and due to his size is a matchup issue for most corners when they try to come downhill in run support. Stephens is a tough tackle and will drag defenders with his size.

Stephens doesn’t run a ton of routes and relies on his height and frame to make plays. He will sometimes sink back before he takes a step as the ball is hiked causing him to be a step slow off the line. Ran a 4.6 40 time, and with his frame, he may be a bit of a tweener and will need to add size to be a full-time tight end. While he does well to box out defenders he doesn’t always highpoint the ball and allows it to come to him