Cowboys training camp: UDFA Tyron Billy-Johnson has a big day at Dallas practice on Tuesday

Tyron Billy-Johnson arrived at the Dallas Cowboys as a journeyman. Despite having 80 receptions for 1,288 yards in his last two seasons at Oklahoma State, he went undrafted in 2019. The Dallas Cowboys are the ninth franchise he has been a part of in his brief NFL career. Billy-Johnson has yet to see extensive action thus far, having played only 26 games. Therefore his true potential as a receiver has yet to be seen. What is evident, however, is his speed. His 40-yard dash time was clocked in at 4.36 seconds on his pro day.

Billy-Johnson faces the daunting task of emerging from solely an extra body at camp to work his way onto the practice squad, let alone the 53-man roster. Yet, on Tuesday, he made the best of it and made several crunch-times catches.

Nick Eatman of dallascowboys.com had this to say about Billy-Johnson’s day at camp:

“A big day for young receiver Tyron Billy-Johnson, who had several clutch catches in the red-zone and goal-line drills. Sporting No. 80, Billy-Johnson is known more for his deep speed, but he was crisp with his route-running won off the line throughout practice.”

Johnson should see plenty of playing time over the next two preseason games against the Seattle Seahawks and the Las Vegas Raiders. Don’t expect any of the Cowboys’ top receiving options to play in the final preseason game; that also should include Jalen Tolbert. This will provide ample opportunity for Billy-Johnson to see if he can make an in-game connection with third-string quarterback Will Grier.

If Johnson can carry over his performances in camp to the preseason games, he will give himself a chance to stick in the minds of the coaches when they are evaluating who to add to the practice squad. Johnson also has experience returning kicks and has averaged 19.1 yards per return in his career. As we’ve seen with KaVontae Turpin last summer, it only takes one big play on special teams to change a career trajectory.