Jalen Brooks has had his moments, but time may be running out on his opportunity to turn those moments into a noteworthy career. The journey from Pop Warner football to the pros is only available for a handful of hopefuls. Just making it to the NFL is a feat in itself, something that is often lost on the viewing public when speaking about the talent and ability of players at the bottom of the rosters.
Brooks is set to enter Year 3 with the Dallas Cowboys, already a major accomplishment for a player taken where he was in the draft. Brooks has had several impressive moments throughout two offseasons. They earned him special teams looks and a handful of targets in 2023 and then a somewhat expanded role in 2024. Can that be parlayed into a contributing role in 2025?
Rundown
Position: Wide Receiver
Age: 25
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 205 pounds
Hometown: Coppell, TX
High School: Hickory Ridge, NC
College: University of South Carolina (Highlight Video)
Draft: 2023, Seventh-round pick No. 244
Acquired: 2023 Free Agency
Contract: Four-year deal (2023), $3.9 million, $82,356 signing bonus
2025 Base Salary: $1.03 million
Career Earnings: $1.7 million (per Over The Cap)
Profile
Brooks enters the mandatory portion of the offseason still buried on the Dallas depth chart. The trade acquisition of George Pickens ate up a roster spot that indirectly makes things more difficult for the Carolina native. Even if the Cowboys carry six wideouts into the regular-season roster, there’s now one more player pushed down the depth chart for Brooks to compete with.
Ryan Flournoy, Kelvin Harmon, Parris Campbell, Josh Kelley, Jalen Moreno and UDFA Traeshon Holden are all going to fight for that spot as well as the practice squad assignments distributed to those initially released.
Brooks had an impressive rookie camp and parlayed that into a surprise spot on the initial roster, but the big question now is whether he was a Mike McCarthy guy, or if new head coach (and former offensive coordinator) Brian Schottenheimer believes in him as well. He’s worked with QB Dak Prescott as part of his summer squad each year since being in the league, and now enters a crucial Year 3 that will determine if he’s in the NFL for a good time or a long time.
Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Prescott’s summer flings to bubble WR will need to morph into substantial contributions
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
