Michael Gallup gets real about Cowboys' addition to offense

After finishing last season in the top three of Cowboys receivers in snaps (738) and targets (74), Michael Gallup will have added competition for target share in 2023 due to the addition of Brandin Cooks. Yet, that doesn't appear to be fazing the sixth-year pro, who praises Cooks' addition to the receiving corps. 

“He’s just bringing knowledge to the whole group. And we love him in there,” Gallup said earlier this week, per The Athletic's Jon Machota. “He has been in there every day, working, just trying to win. That’s all he wants to do is just win, and he wants to do it as a group. He’s a great addition.”

Snagging Cooks in a trade with the Houston Texans in March was a pivotal move for a Dallas offense that was overly reliant on Pro Bowler CeeDee Lamb in 2022. Now with the addition of Cooks, the position goes from one of football's most top-heavy to one of football's most vaunted trios. (Per StatMuse, Cooks' 8,616 receiving yards since 2014 rank eighth in the NFL.)

As for Gallup, he can settle back into the No. 3 receiver role, a spot that he thrived in earlier in his career. In 2020, operating behind Lamb and then-No. 1 target Amari Cooper, Gallup racked up 843 yards on 59 receptions, an average of 14.3 yards per reception. 

Now a full season removed from a torn ACL that greatly hampered his production in 2022, look for Gallup to regain his pre-injury form and output by playing alongside Cooks and Lamb.

“[Last year] I was thinking too much,” Gallup said Wednesday, via 105.3 The Fan. “My knee was feeling sore, and it was just different. Last year at this time, I couldn’t walk. It’s different now. I feel springy again. It just feels different. It’s kind of like in the air. I’m smiling every time I walk in that facility.”