Simi Fehoko: Dak Prescott's New Dallas Cowboys Starting WR?
FRISCO - Store this away into the "You Had To Be There'' File.
Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy recently pulled aside rookie Simi Fehoko and offered up a revelation that may be both a) a reflection of the talents of the fifth-round All Pac-12 receiver at Stanford and b) a reflection of the possible void in the Dallas receivers room.
"Potentially, this year, you gain a little bit more weight and we can use you as more like a hybrid tight end-receiver-type body,'' McCarthy told Fehoko this offseason.
Simi Fehoko
Simi Fehoko
Simi Fehoko
Said Fehoko: “I’ll have a bigger role, I’d say, in the offense and in special teams. ... I have no problem ... obviously gaining weight and playing at a higher weight isn’t a problem.”
Fast-forward to last week at OTAs, and by gosh, there was Fehoko very much "filling that void,'' taking first-team snaps.
How notable is this to folks getting their information second-hand? Well, ProFootballTalk.com writes that "Fehoko has been getting time opposite CeeDee Lamb with the first-team offense in OTAs.''
And Simi has a reason to be excited for the chance, such as it is, saying, “Being the bigger, taller and I guess heavier receiver to be able to have that blend of speed ... I feel like that is something I bring to the table.”
But what the aggregation gang cannot know? What information can be gathered only from attending the workout? Fehoko was no more an OTA "first-teamer'' than Noah Brown or T.J. Vasher was. Oh, and it so happens that while the 6-3 Fehoko plans on playing at over 225 pounds (so yes, he has size), Brown is 6-2 and 225. And Vasher is 6-6 and 215.
So all three of them have the size thing going for them. And all three of them mixed in with the first team - something that could change immediately as soon as the temporarily sidelined James Washington and Jalen Tolbert are able to practice.
None of this is meant as an insult to Fehoko, who in 2021 really played only special teams but has huge fans in the Dallas scouting department who are believers in his ability to win with speed and size.
Additionally, Fehoko says he's spent a great deal of offseason time in DFW, all the better to get to know, and work with, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott.
And McCarthy's coaching staff? CeeDee Lamb is locked in, but with Amari Cooper and Ced Wilson gone and Michael Gallup rehabbing his knee, the Cowboys need help.
Amari Cooper and Simi Fehoko
Amari Cooper and Dak Prescott
That need, however, doesn't anoint Fehoko as a starter. Not on a random Wednesday in an early OTA session.
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