Jalen Tolbert named as potential Dallas Cowboys breakout player

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Colbert is ready for a big year in his third NFL season, and he's been named as the team's most likely breakout player.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys wide receiving corps is thin entering the 2024 NFL season, with a lack of proven depth behind CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks.

The battle for WR3 will be one of the most intriguing battles throughout training camp, with Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks, KaVontae Turpin, and sixth-round pick Ryan Flournoy competing for the job.

Tolbert enters camp as the favorite to win the job despite having just 22 catches for 268 yards and two touchdowns in his professional career.

MORE: Jalen Tolbert has regained confidence, ready to step up for Cowboys

During his final year at South Alabama in 2021, Tolbert recorded 82 catches for 1,474 yards and eight touchdowns. It was his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. And now, he is ready to showcase the talent that made him a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

He will have the opportunity to do that with K.D. Drummond of Cowboys Wire naming Tolbert as the potential breakout player in Dallas this season.

"The third-year receiver from South Alabama is primed to join what is consistently one of the league’s top-performing passing games," he wrote. "After a horrible rookie season, Tolbert saw the lights go on in 2023, but saw few opportunities. He’ll face competition from others (Kavontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks, Ryan Flournoy) but there’s around 60 targets waiting to be claimed."

Tolbert will also have opportunities to grow familiar with Dak Prescott during training camp, with belief that CeeDee Lamb's holdout will last throughout the Cowboys' time in Oxnard unless he signs a new deal.

The Dallas Cowboys will jet off to the West Coast on Tuesday, July 23, before the opening press conference the following day. The team's first training camp practice is Thursday, July 25.

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