Two months after the 2021 season and just over a month before the 2022 NFL Draft, Dallas traded receiver Amari Cooper to Cleveland. This opened the door to CeeDee Lamb being the unquestioned number one option in that passing game but there were several questions behind him. Michael Gallup had shown some promise but was coming off a torn ACL and Cedrick Wilson Jr. left for Miami. There wasn’t much that inspired hope in that room. Enter Tolbert, a third rounder who was viewed as a multi-year project. He barely saw the field in 2022 but the signing of Brandin Cooks the next offseason in addition to the fact Dak Prescott made Lamb the most targeted player in the NFL and Tony Pollard ranked seventh in targets among running backs kept the door mostly closed for Tolbert. In 2024, we saw him breach the starting lineup and set career highs across the board finishing with a career-high 98 yards week 18. While four-year developments are a rarity in today’s NFL, there is no disputing he has been on a constant ascent since being drafted.
The instability of the Panthers Head Coaching situation has created a lot of roster movement stemming from a wide spectrum of specific player valuations. Frank Reich was hired in 2023, the year the club traded up aggressively to select quarterback Bryce Young at number one overall. Right away, Reich tried to supply him with a weapon in second rounder Jonathan Mingo. He was a week one starter who played in all 17 games but he struggled to produce in the league’s worst passing attack. Reich was pushed out less than a season into coaching Mingo and the new coaching staff led by Dave Canales viewed him as dispensable and no longer a part of the future. Dallas offered a fourth round pick at the trade deadline for Mingo (and a seventh rounder) which is no cheap price tag for a receiver on a rookie deal with multiple seasons remaining. Former Head Coach Mike McCarthy, who was at the helm during the trade, had a first round grade on Mingo leading up to the 2023 Draft. However, he only caught five of fifteen targets for 46 yards in his eight games with the club (albeit with backup quarterbacks).
Prediction: Tolbert
Nor Tolbert or Mingo have a long history with this coaching staff but Tolbert was drafted by owner Jerry Jones and despite a slow start to his career, his development has been obvious enough to consider him the favorite to win the job. Mingo is waiting in the wings, though and Tolbert is in the final season of his contract.