Cowboys UDFA profile: Kendrick Rogers showed big-play ability on the college level but lacked consistency

The Dallas Cowboys grabbed a ton of headlines in the draft. CeeDee Lamb, one of the 10 best players in the draft, should make an immediate impact at wide receiver for Dallas. Trevon Diggs is a high-ceiling corner that the team loved. Neville Gallimore should be in the thick of the defensive line rotation from day one. Bradlee Anae was a sack machine at Utah, and the Cowboys grabbing him in the fifth-round was considered one of the biggest values of the entire draft.

You get the point. Dallas not only grabbed impact players at important positions, they did so while drafting for great value. Even the trade up for center Tyler Biadasz was smart, as Biadasz has flashed first-round talent talent, but suffered injuries that derailed his stock.

But adding talent does not stop when Mr. Irrelevant is announced; rather, smart teams identify undrafted free agents to come in and compete. Dallas drafted quarterback Ben DiNucci in the seventh-round to secure his place, and then went after others.

It appeared as if the Cowboys were going to get a major steal in former Texas A&M wide receiver Quartney Davis, but Davis changed his mind in favor of a pretty sweet offer from the Minnesota Vikings. Dallas did, however, come to terms with another former Aggies receiver: the intriguing, big-framed Kendrick Rogers.

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If you watched any amount of college football over the past two seasons, there is a good chance that you have seen at least one of Kendrick Rogers’ highlights.

The 6-foot-4, 208-pound target with 33 1/8” arms and 9 1/8” hands made highlight grabs against the likes of Clemson and LSU during the 2018 season. Rogers was often seen high-pointing a football and coming down with it over a host of defensive backs.

Rogers’ coming out party was his 2018 performance versus the eventual national champion Clemson Tigers: seven catches, 120 yards, and a pair of touchdowns. There was nothing that the Clemson defense was able to do to slow down the Frankston, Texas, native.

Later in that same season, Rogers had another two-touchdown performance — this time against the LSU Tigers in a seven-overtime classic. Rogers had just three catches during the game, but he made them count.

Interestingly enough, Rogers was PFF’s highest graded red zone target after the 2018 season.

Many expected Rogers to have a big junior season in College Station after those two big-time performances — especially with it being the second year in Jimbo Fisher’s system and another season catching passes from quarterback Kellen Mond.

Alas, that never happened.

Rogers struggled with inconsistencies during his career. On one hand, he showed up in the big games, but he failed to show up each week for the Aggies. In fact, Rogers scored just one other touchdown in that season outside of the two contests (one versus N.C. State in the bowl game). The former three-star recruit had just two total scores during his last season wearing the maroon and white.

One of those two touchdowns was pretty impressive, however:

The A&M product was never able to fully put everything together while playing on the collegiate level. He lacked production — 66 catches, 786, seven touchdowns in three seasons — while also lacking elite physical traits — his 4.51 40 is 53rd-percentile, 35 ¹⁄₂ inch vertical jump is 50th-percentile, and his 7.13 three-cone is just 19th-percentile, per mockdraftable.

Rogers does not have a diverse route-tree and is not the cleanest route-runner on the routes that he did run. His release needs improvement, and he can struggle creating separation from defensive backs — his 4.48 20-yard shuttle (sixth-percentile) backs that up.

Still, Dallas has a need at the fourth wide receiver spot, so there is something up for grabs for Rogers to compete for. While he has an uphill battle on beating out the likes of Cedrick Wilson and Jon’Vea Johnson, Rogers has flashed enough potential to take a chance on in the UDFA market.

A wide receiver that made some talented defensive backs look silly is certainly worth a flier.