Mike McCarthy says Cowboys’ Michael Gallup is a WR1 and he’s not wrong
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup is one of the most slept on players in the NFL. He’s spent the better part of two years in the shadow of Amari Cooper, and the selection of Oklahoma product CeeDee Lamb in the first-round of this year’s draft pushed Gallup further from the national conversation. His performance in his second season should have announced his arrival, though he isn’t widely known outside of the Metroplex and fantasy football circles.
Head coach Mike McCarthy is trying to change all that, on Tuesday providing the ultimate confidence shot. “Let’s make it clear, Michael Gallup is a No. 1 receiver in my view.”
But how accurate is that statement? Is this a case of a coach hyping up a player because that’s part of the job description? Or is Gallup truly capable of being the guy on the outside?
To begin, the 24-year-old is indeed in rare company. Since 1990, he’s one of just 41 receivers to turn in an 1,100 yard season in one of his first two seasons. Here’s the full list, courtesy of Pro Football Reference. To be fair, he’s at the very bottom, but even a cursory look shows the kind of company he’s in. The flame-outs here are few and far between, with just four players who failed to live up to the lofty expectations set early in their career.
The efficiency in which he accomplished that feat can’t be ignored as Gallup played in only 14 games last year, tied for the second fewest on the list. He was targeted just 113 times, which pales in comparison to the yardage leader here, former St. Louis Rams wide receiver Isaac Bruce’s and his 199 and Gallup’s 16.77 yards per reception ranked No. 10 among qualified players.
It is possible that without Cooper on the other side of the field, drawing attention from the opposing team’s top corners, Gallup fails to produce at the same clip he did in 2019 as a secondary option for quarterback Dak Prescott. But given the ability he flashed, even in a season in which he underwent surgery for a knee injury, it’s possible the Cowboys have as many as No. 1 wide receivers.
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