The Dallas Cowboys made bold additions this offseason to push their franchise closer to Super Bowl 58 contention. With the additions of wide receiver Brandin Cooks, cornerback Stephon Gilmore, and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, the Cowboys are hoping the 2023 NFL season will be when they finally break through.
We’re diving into the role wide receiver Michael Gallup will play in 2023, the hurdles he’s faced to this point, and the impact a healthy season from Gallup will have.
Michael Gallup’s Impact on the Cowboys’ Offense in 2023
The best way for Dallas to improve is to see a leap from their incumbent talent. That means bounce-back seasons for both quarterback Dak Prescott and Gallup. Considering this unit ranked fourth in scoring in 2022, a stronger performance from either can realistically give Dallas a shot at finishing No. 1 in 2023.
The Cowboys have one of the most unique profiles of any team in the league. At face value, their decision to let former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore depart to Los Angeles is shocking. After all, the unit was 11th in yards gained and a top-10 rushing team with the sixth-best scoring margin.
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However, the Cowboys’ defense played a massive role in that outcome. Dallas’ offense benefited from the top-turnover-producing defense in the NFL more than the other way around. Considering the Cowboys gave away the third-most interceptions in the league and only managed to give the defense the seventh-worst starting field position, there’s clearly room to improve.
Adding Cooks will help the offense stretch the field vertically. Dallas lost tight end Dalton Schultz and replaced him with second-rounder Luke Schoonmaker. Yet, in addition to the newcomers and CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys still have to get more from Gallup.
Gallups’ 2022 season was a series of unfortunate events. He totaled only 39 receptions for 424 yards and four touchdowns across 14 games after coming back from a torn ACL suffered in January 2022. Noah Brown and Tony Pollard had as many or more receptions as Brown last year.
Sometimes numbers like that get skewed, but the advanced tracking showed that Gallup was just not the same player as he once was. According to Next Gen Stats, Gallup’s average separation from his nearest defender was tied for 116th out of 121 and was 112th in catch percentage. It’s not surprising for an athlete to claim they’re physically well, but Gallup claimed “it’s just mental now” when it came to playing well.
By January, Gallup underwent “an arthroscopic procedure” on both his right knee and right ankle. His torn ACL was on the left side, and it’s not atypical for the opposite knee to give out shortly after the other knee. While we don’t have clarification on the severity of what led to those procedures, it was reported in a way of precaution to ensure Gallup is as healthy as possible for this fall.
How Brandin Cooks Can Earn the Opportunity To Produce
Head coach Mike McCarthy, who will call plays this season, reportedly told Gallup he’ll be more of a focal point in the offense with Schultz gone. The only way McCarthy can promise this, though, is if Gallup is 100%. Otherwise, Cooks is logically the No. 2 target on the unit because he’s simply the better player and always has been.
The reality with Gallup is we’re two full seasons and a torn ACL removed from the last time he played especially good football. His overall route win rate landed 73rd overall last year, and his yards per reception was 75th at 10.9 yards. Gallup’s route win rate was even worse in 2021, sitting 86th at a mere 32.1%.
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In a more vertical role, his two best seasons — coming in 2019 and 2020 — Gallup was much more effective. His yards per reception were at 16.8 and 14.3, respectively, and defenses weren’t sagging off him nearly as much. Gallup’s average cushion went from 4.23 yards and 3.58 in those seasons to 4.34 and 4.89 in the last two years, respectively.
With defenders keeping almost five yards of distance off Gallup, there was a complete disregard for him as a playmaker last season. Defenses didn’t feel his presence and were unafraid for him to be the primary target on any given play. To their credit, Gallup never made them pay, as he produced just one game with more than 49 receiving yards.
That simply can’t happen in 2023. Dallas can’t force the ball to Gallup or help his body enter a time machine. But if Gallup can see his performance jump from a below-average player to a solid role player capable of being a No. 2 in a very good passing attack as he was for a two-year stretch, the Cowboys’ ceiling and floor rise considerably.