This Cowboys wide receiver may benefit the most from Allen Hurns being released

In somewhat of a surprising move, the Cowboys released veteran wide receiver Allen Hurns on Tuesday just two days before the team leaves for training camp in Oxnard, California. While that’s tough news for the former Cowboys and Jaguars wide receiver, with his release, comes an opportunity for another receiver to make the 53-man roster.

It’s a high possibility the Cowboys will keep six wide receivers at the start of the season with all the talent they have coming into Oxnard this year. In those six, there are only three guys that are considered “locks” to make the 53-man roster.

The Locks

1. Amari Cooper
2. Randall Cobb
3. Michael Gallup

With only three of the six potential spots on the WR depth chart taken, we will have to see who earns the other three spots this offseason, but let’s first see who those candidates are.

The Candidates

1. Noah Brown
2. Cedrick Wilson
3. Tavon Austin
4. Jon’Vea Johnson
5. Reggie Davis
6. Jalen Guyton
7. Lance Lenoir
8. Devin Smith

There’s no telling who, if any of these guys have any sort of advantage over the others heading into training camp. Tavon Austin, Noah Brown, and Lance Lenoir have spent time with the team in recent years, but outside of a few key plays and returns from Austin, and some big blocks from Noah Brown, none of these guys have made a huge offensive impact so far. So while the familiarity could help those three guys, the lack of development and ability to get on the field consistently could also leave the Cowboys coaching staff wondering if the newer, less familiar candidates could bring more to the table as offensive weapons.

The one guy to circle on these lists is Cedrick Wilson. Wilson is the only guy on this list that was drafted by the Cowboys, who has yet to make the active roster. If the Cowboys liked Wilson enough to use a sixth-round pick on him in 2017, then you’d think they’d like to give him every opportunity to get on the field and prove his worth. Wilson’s NFL career was off to a rocky start after he was placed on the IR list in training camp last year with a torn labrum. Wilson spent the entirety of his rookie season on the IR, but is now fully healthy and a full-go heading into training camp. With Hurns now not in the picture, could this be the opportunity Cedrick Wilson needed to make the 53-man roster?

Wilson is young, he’s cheap, he has sure hands, and he’s still developing as a receiver. That’s the style of receiver the Cowboys can afford to carry if they go deep with six receivers in 2019. Wilson isn’t the burner that Tavon Austin or Devin Smith is, but he was still a very productive vertical threat coming out of Boise State. Wilson may not be the route-runner that Lance Lenoir or Reggie Davis are, but he showed the ability to get in-and-out of his breaks with ease, and won at the catch point on a high percentage of those opportunities. The most intriguing trait that Wilson brings to the table is his ceiling is rather high. Don’t expect Wilson to ever turn into a All-Pro, but a decent ceiling is what Wilson has shown on the field after playing the wide receiver position for just three years, one of which was at Coffeyville Community College.

Cedrick Wilson is going to get plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills in training camp and in preseason, but given his skill-set, background, and how much this staff loves their Boise State Bronco’s, putting Wilson at the top of the list to earn one of those three spots might not be a bad idea.