In an effort to achieve continuity with their now second-year quarterback’s offense, the Dallas Cowboys re-signed both WR Terrance Williams and WR Brice Butler early this offseason.
While neither player’s performance in 2016 matched their pre-season hype, both were solid contributors to an offense which features a lot of fire power. In particular, Terrance Williams has become the “number two” wide out in Dallas, the Z receiver opposite of Dez Bryant.
Williams’ lackluster play at times has had Cowboys fans worried about Prescott’s so-called second option in the passing game, and led some to even wonder if Dallas should draft a wide receiver at some point this April.
The Cowboys already have their “number two” receiver on the roster, however. He just happens to play out of the slot.
At only 5’8″ 174 pounds, Cole Beasley bursted onto the scene in 2016 and played much bigger than his stature. Finishing with 75 catches, 833 yards, and 5 touchdowns, Beasley became Prescott’s main target during Dez Bryant’s absence, and a bonafide red zone threat.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/847588255193329666/photo/1
Earlier last week, Pro Football Focus tweeted out a stat which only cemented my stance that Cole Beasley is the true “number two” for the Cowboys.
When targeting Cole Beasley, quarterback Dak Prescott averaged a 122.8 passer rating. According to PFF, this was the highest rating for any wide out with at least 75 targets.
Pretty impressive, huh?
https://twitter.com/kevinbrady88/status/820723316055048197
Beasley may not “look” the part of a passing game threat for an NFL team to many people, being that he is short and, well, white. But Cole Beasley is, in my opinion, the best slot receiver in the entire league, and has become the security blanket on third downs and key situations for the young Dak Prescott.
Similar to how Jason Witten was Tony Romo’s go-to guy in crunch-time, it appears that Beasley is becoming that for Dak.
And considering how well he performed in those situations, Dak Prescott’s confidence in Beasley is warranted.
Cole is great and I really see him as the number 2 wideout on the team. I’d say his probably the number 3 slot WR in the league. Julian Edelman and Jarvis Landry come to mind. But that’s no small thing. Those guys have had 100 catch seasons (I think).
You’re right in saying that Dak has found his Witten though. Seemed like early on that Cole was going to be that guy, especially when Dez went down with an injury.