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Now comes the part of the offseason where the Dallas Cowboys truly excel in picking up undrafted free agents. They put extra emphasis on going out and recruiting guys to come and be a part of their team, and when you show up to people’s door wearing that blue star on your shirt, you clearly have an advantage over the other teams in the league. Over the past decade, the Cowboys have been able to find a franchise quarterback in Tony Romo, a productive slot receiver in Cole Beasley and probably the best kicker in the game in Dan Bailey through the undrafted free agency pool; so naturally everyone is wondering who will be this year’s Beasley when the season officially starts in September.
Well I won’t waste your time talking about how La’el Collins will likely emerge as a starter, because that’s really a no-brainer considering the fact he was supposed to be a first-round pick in this year’s draft. I will instead look at a few positions that the Cowboys still need to address at wide receiver, safety and cornerback.
First at receiver, everyone is looking to USC‘s George Farmer, Florida Atlantic’s Lucky Whitehead and Kansas‘ Nick Harwell to make the team mainly because of what they can offer in the return game. They are all tremendous talents, as Whitehead has proven his ability to return kicks by ending his season with a 76-yard punt return against Old Dominion last year, Harwell was Kansas’ leading receiver and Farmer is a big receiver who looks the part and has a ton of potential — he just happened to be injured for the majority of his college career.
I look for Farmer to have the best chance of this trio mainly because he has the higher ceiling and could eventually work his way into a few offensive packages as the year goes on. But another receiver to keep an eye on would be Antwan Goodley out of Baylor. He played in a high octane offense in Waco which led to his big numbers in college, but he also has the speed and explosiveness that is needed to be an effective return man in the NFL. With Dez Bryant, Terrence Williams, Beasley and Devin Street already on the roster, the Cowboys will likely hold on to Farmer as a standard wideout prospect, and will look to add Goodley as a sixth receiver option whose main contribution will be on special teams. There really is no need to hold on to two receivers on the backend of the roster who provide the same skill set.
The next position that could land a free agent a spot on the team is cornerback, and I believe that Central Michigan’s Jason Wilson could seriously challenge Morris Claiborne for his spot on the team. Because he is a first-round draft pick and the Cowboys gave up a lot to get him, Claiborne has the upper hand, but Wilson is a burner who is active around the ball which is something that defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli loves. In his senior season he had 51 tackles to go along with seven pass breakups, and his production didn’t trail off at all when he played against top competition as he had nine tackles and an interception against Purdue. If coach Garrett has shown his team anything, it’s that he will play you on Sundays no matter what your background is, so look for Wilson to turn a few heads this offseason.
The last spot that could help out a free agent is safety. The Cowboys are in need of an upgrade over backup Jeff Heath, and the strong and physical Ray Vinopal out of Pitt may just what they need. Scouts like his ability as a blitzer as he racked up 68 tackles with two interceptions his senior year. He had an impressive pro day before the draft which put him on the radar for quite a few teams. Look for him to be this year’s Barry Church.
Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.
