Inside The Star
When it comes to the successful Dallas Cowboys teams of the past, they’ve had one thing in common. A serious 1-2 receiving combo that defenses had to respect.
They had it with Drew Pearson and Butch Johnson in the 1970s.
And again with Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper in the early 1990s.
Since then, they’ve been searching to recapture that magic. They thought they had it with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup but that never materialized.
In 2025, at least for one year, the Cowboys found that magical combo and the passing game thrived.
CeeDee Lamb entered the season as Dallas’ WR1 but George Pickens may have supplanted Lamb in that spot.
The Cowboys traded for Pickens and the trade paid off. Pickens led the team in receptions (93), yards (1,429), and touchdowns (9).
Lamb still had a 1,000 yard season despite missing three games.
The surprise of the season might be the emergence of Ryan Flournoy, who blossomed when Lamb was out.
Assuming the Cowboys either sign Pickens or franchise tag him, the Cowboys will have a dynamic group of receivers for Dak Prescott to throw to.
Here’s how the receivers fared in 2025:
Pickens had a Pro Bowl season, playing in all 17 games. However, he only started in 15 of them due to some off-field disciplinary issues.
His potential to have such issues should give the Cowboys pause, at least enough to put something in any contract to cover the team in case he turns into Antonio Brown.
Still, Pickens had a career year.
Pickens had five games of 130 yards or more in 2025.
He also had four games of 37 yards or fewer. Three of the games came in the final five games of the year.
Lamb was injured in the third game against Chicago and then missed the next three games. He went without a catch in that game and only had one catch for four yards in limited time in the season finale.
In the 12 games he was fully available for, he had 74 catches for 1,073 yards and three touchdowns.
Coming into the year, Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin were both ahead of Flournoy on the depth chart. If anything, Flournoy wasn’t expected to make the team with Jonathan Mingo on the roster for a second year.
He played in 16 games, missing only the Week 17 game at Washington, with four starts.
Flournoy had two 100+-yard games, 114 yards against the Jets and 115 against the Lions.
For the year, he finished with 475 yards on 40 catches with four touchdowns. He should start the year no lower than WR3.
Turpin’s value to the team was more as a punt and kickoff returner. He still managed to haul in 26 passes for 396 yards with two touchdowns.
He also had 17 carries for 89 yards rushing the ball.
He missed two games in October.
Turpin started two games...
