Michael Gallup’s recent comments give Cowboys fans reason for excitement

When the Dallas Cowboys opted to part ways with wide receiver Amari Cooper via trade to the Cleveland Browns in a cost-saving move, the expectations became sky-high for Michael Gallup. Unfortunately, the former third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft was coming back from a torn ACL suffered in 2021 and never seemed to look fully like himself.

Gallup finished the year with just 39 catches for 424 yards and four touchdowns, a far cry from the 1,107 and 843 yards he had posted in 2019 and 2020. But when asked recently about his knee and overcoming the injury heading into 2023, he told The Athletic's Jon Machota he's "100 percent" mentally now.

“Mentally, it’s up to 100 percent. Last year, obviously the mentals weren’t there. I knew my leg was good. I knew I was straight, but I still had to get over that little hump. … I’ve already [rebuilt the confidence.] That’s why we had OTAs and all that good stuff. I definitely rebuilt it," Gallup said, per Machota.

While the potential of Gallup returning to his old form and providing another weapon for Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense is exciting on its own, it's magnified by two other factors as well. The emergence of CeeDee Lamb as a legitimate star is one, as that'll only make Gallup's potential for a big year even higher, along with the trade to acquire former Houston Texans wide receiver, Brandin Cooks.

Between Lamb's dominance in all facets of the game as a receiver, and Cooks' consistency and ability to stretch the field, Gallup is going to have an overwhelming amount of space to work with this coming season. Not only should he be able to bounce back to the range of his 2019 and 2020 numbers, but he could be a sleeper pick to exceed expectations the most out of any player on the Dallas offense.