Cowboys’ best rookie sleeper to make impact in 2024 NFL season

The two biggest factors in becoming a rookie sleeper are ability and opportunity. Former Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Ryan Flournoy has both after going to the Cowboys in the sixth round (pick 216) of the NFL draft.

Let’s start with the opportunity piece.

Heading into 2024, the Cowboys have Super Bowl aspirations, as they always do as “America’s Team.” However, this season those aspirations are more justified than usual with the team Jones has put in place.

Dak Prescott is a top-10 quarterback, the team has a solid offensive line, and the defense is well above average with the transcendent Micah Parsons leading the way for the unit.

The Cowboys do have a few flaws on the roster, though, starting at wide receiver. CeeDee Lamb has only been in the league for four seasons and is already a three-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro. He is undoubtedly one of the best WRs in the NFL right now. The problem comes right behind Lamb on the depth chart.

Dallas doesn’t have a clear-cut No. 2 receiver on the roster, and if they hope to finally make some noise in the playoffs, they will need to find one.

Brandin Cooks is nominally WR2 for the Cowboys, but ideally, he is a team’s third receiver at best. While he broke off six 1,000-plus-yard seasons early in his career, Cooks is now 30 and hasn’t broken the 700-yard mark in the last two years.

The third WR on the depth chart is 2022 third-round pick Jalen Tolbert. Like Flournoy, Tolbert had good size (6-foot-1, 195 pounds) and talent coming out of a small school (South Alabama). In two NFL seasons, though, Tolbert has managed just 39 catches for 280 yards and two touchdowns.

After those two, it’s a rouge’s gallery of below-average or unproven pass-catchers like KaVontae Turpin, Racey McMath, David Durden, Jalen Brooks, Jalen Moreno-Cropper, Cam Johnson, Tyron Johnson, and Corey Crooms Jr.

And no, believe it or not, I didn’t add any fake names or NBA players to that list.

So, with that list of wideouts on the 2024 Cowboys roster heading into the offseason, there’s a good chance Flournoy gets a real chance to earn playing time in camp.

And that’s a good thing for the receiver and the team because despite going to a small school, Ryan Flournoy has the potential to become a legit NFL pass-catcher.

Flournoy took a long and winding path to the NFL. The Cowboys wideout grew up in Flossner, Illinois before starting his college career at Division II Central Missouri. He then went to Iowa Western Community College before settling in at FCS SE Missouri State for his final two seasons. With the Redhawks, he put up 118 catches for 1,823 yards and 13 touchdowns.

That production, combined with his 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame and excellent athleticism (4.4-second 40, 19 bench press reps, 39.5-inch vertical) caught the eye of NFL scouts.

While Flournoy has all the measurables to make it in the league, he must improve his technique and sharpen his route-running to become a successful NFL WR. This is not surprising given his background.

The good news for the Cowboys is that this potential rookie sleeper drew rave reviews from his former head coach about his “coachability and team-first mentality” ahead of the draft, per NFL.com.

With the right level of commitment and dedication, finally playing with NFL talent could supercharge Flournoy’s development and make him the 2024 Cowboys’ rookie sleeper this season.