Rookie wide receiver Jalen Tolbert is going to provide value in and outside of Dallas this season. And that’s not just talking about road games. The third-round pick out of South Alabama could be a sneaky fantasy football pick-up on a Dallas Cowboys team that’s got a considerable hole for him to fill.

When the front office decided to shunt Amari Cooper off to the Cleveland Browns for a nominal draft pick, it’s clear the idea was to save money and, with any luck, one of those rare addition-by-subtraction type situations. Heading into free agency, the cupboard behind CeeDee Lamb was largely bare with Michael Gallup on the shelf through the first part of the schedule. Enter Tolbert, a player ESPN’s Jordan Reid names his midround pick with fantasy value:

Amari Cooper is gone, and Michael Gallup is recovering from a torn ACL, so Tolbert arrives in a situation where he’s likely an instant contributor. CeeDee Lamb is the obvious top option, but Tolbert could find himself as the No. 2 target on the perimeter earlier than expected.

Third-round picks aren’t often home runs in terms of value, either real or fantasy. And for the Cowboys, one doesn’t have to go far back to find a frame of reference to what Tolbert might do in his rookie season. In 2018, Gallup found his way to Dallas in the third round. That wide receiving group was a disaster heading into the season, and only made better by a certain first-round trade midseason with the then Oakland Raiders.

He ended up ranking as the No. 188 player by Pro Football Reference’s fantasy metrics, the No. 76 wide receiver. One major thing has changed for the Cowboys since then: the progression of quarterback Dak Prescott has led to a more wide-open offense. But hoping for a third-round rookie from a small school like Southern Alabama to come in and have eye popping stats is a long shot at best.