Dallas Cowboys invite former Elon quarterback Matthew McKay to rookie minicamp

The Dallas Cowboys will start rookie minicamp with a quarterback after the team sent an invite to Elon standout Matthew McKay this week. McKay, a Raleigh, North Carolina native, initially began his collegiate career at NC State before transferring to Montana State, then Elon.

At Montana State and Elon, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback posted +2,000-yard seasons, while also rushing for more than 300 yards in 2021 and 2022.

He finished his final season in college at Elon with a 61.1 completion rate, 2,690 passing yards, 458 rushing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, four interceptions and three more scores on the ground.

Although Dallas has invited numerous undrafted players to minicamp, McKay is the first reported quarterback of the group.

On top of exciting undrafted prospects like Tyrus Wheat out of Mississippi State and Durrell Johnson from Liberty, Dallas added Louisiana Tech cornerback Myles Brooks, BYU corner D’Angelo Mandell and Louisiana wide receiver John Stephens Jr. to the minicamp list.

Brooks, a Pflugerville, Texas native, started his career at Stephen F. Austin where he recorded 17 pass breakups and six interceptions in 31 games played. He transferred to Louisiana Tech for the 2022 season, recording 29 tackles, three tackles for loss, three interceptions and eight pass breakups on his way to earning an NFL combine invite.

Mandell was a super-senior when he left BYU after six seasons. He played in 53 games with 24 starts and 79 total tackles. His best season was in 2021 when he had 36 tackles with four pass breakups.

Like Brooks, John Stephens Jr. also transferred during his collegiate career. He started at TCU where he had 14 passes for 214 yards over three years. In 2021, he transferred to Louisiana. As a senior, he put up 14 catches for 284 yards and three touchdowns.

More Dallas undrafted free agents

TJ Bass, G, Oregon (per Michael Gehlken): A two-time first-team All-Pac 12 selection, Bass brings experience playing both the left tackle and left guard positions. But according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, he will compete at guard with the Cowboys.

Tyrus Wheat, LB, Mississippi State (per Tom Pelissero): Wheat led Mississippi State with six sacks this past season in addition to 53 tackles (10.5 for loss) to earn second-team All-SEC honors.

Earl Bostic Jr., OT, Kansas (per Pelissero): Bostick spent the past six seasons with the Jayhawks, including as a starter in 2021 and 2022.

Princeton Fant, TE, Tennessee (per Gehlken): Princeton Fant is the cousin of Seahawks tight end Noah Fant. He is 6-foot-4, 245 pounds and gives the Cowboys another rookie tight end.

Jalen Moreno-Cropper, WR, Fresno State (per Gehlken): Moreno-Cropper had 83 catches for 1,086 yards and five touchdowns in 2022.

Jose Barbon, WR, Temple (per Aaron Wilson): Barbon spent five seasons with the Owls and led the team with 72 catches for 918 yards in 2022.

David Durden, WR, West Florida (per Gehlken): Durden is a multi-sport athlete who played one season of minor league baseball in 2017 before retiring to pursue football. He dominated at the Division II level with 54 catches for 1,128 yards and 13 touchdowns this past season.

Hunter Luepke, FB, North Dakota State (per Pelissero): Luepke rushed for 621 yards this past season while adding 196 yards receiving and 13 total touchdowns.

Isaiah Land, LB, Florida A&M (per Gehlken): Land reunites with Florida A&M teammate Markquese Bell, a Cowboys safety. The edge rusher had a combined 27 sacks and 37.5 tackles for loss the past two seasons.

Durrell Johnson, LB, Liberty (per Pelissero): Johnson led Liberty in both sacks (nine) and tackles for loss (27.5) in 2022.