‘He’s taken that jump’ – The Cowboys could benefit from Jalen Tolbert’s artistic abilities on the field

Visualization has always been one of Jalen Tolbert’s key learning strategies. So, following a dismal debut season in 2022 and into Year 2 with a new offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer, Tolbert did what he thought was required to position himself up for success.

During the offseason, he put a whiteboard in his home’s game room.

“I enjoy art and drawing,” Tolbert added. “Even in college, I would go up to our fieldhouse and draw the plays on the dry-erase board.” Drawing it up and seeing every location and picturing it helps me learn.”

Tolbert’s whiteboard had a far larger canvas, but it was also limited to his home. Dallas Cowboys coaches and players were aware of Tolbert’s exceptional study habits from the previous season, but Schottenheimer, who was on staff as a coaching analyst in 2022, was new in his role as offensive coordinator and wanted to ensure Tolbert had the necessary outlet to continue learning the offense.

Tolbert transferred his dry-erase board football artwork into the notebook.

“Obviously, a notebook is smaller, but I tried to make it look like it would be on a dry-erase board,” Tolbert explained. “I drew everything, highlighted and photographed everything, and took side notes on things I could learn or how I think about certain things.” I just keep it all in my notepad and open it whenever I need to.”

Schottenheimer was blown away. Head coach Mike McCarthy was impressed with Tolbert’s off-the-field work and detailed notebook on many occasions this offseason.

“He’s always been very studious,” McCarthy remarked. “If you look at his notebook, you’ll see that the notes are very impressive for a first-year player last year.”

Tolbert’s strong classroom performance is consistent with the impression his teammates and coaches have had of him since the day he arrived as a third-round pick. Tolbert’s football intellect is undeniable, as is his drive to contribute on the field. Where the doubts arise is in Tolbert’s ability to translate his football IQ and emotional passion into productivity.

Last season, Tolbert was targeted just three times and grabbed two passes for 12 yards. He didn’t even make the active roster for roughly half of the season, appearing in only eight games. Tolbert’s most memorable moment from his rookie season was a pre-snap penalty when he lined up offsides in overtime against the Green Bay Packers with the Cowboys on the verge of a field goal. In a game that the Packers eventually won by a field goal, his penalty negated Tony Pollard’s first-down run.

Tolbert appears to be a different player on the field three weeks into training camp.

Tolbert lined up opposite Nahshon Wright during Saturday’s practice and had a connection with Dak Prescott. One of the passes he caught was a basic slant that he broke wide open on, but another was a contested play in which Tolbert went up to the point of attack and won the ball away from Wright. During team exercises on Monday, he made one of his best plays of the camp. Tolbert lined up to the left and ran a quick slant, which was a very normal play. But, despite being smothered by All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore, Tolbert managed to make himself an option for Prescott, who showed his faith in Tolbert by firing the ball into a tight window.

“Last year, I was probably at a 2,” Tolbert remarked when asked to rate himself on a scale of 1 to 10, comparing last year to this year. “I’d say a 6 this year.” Obviously, there is always opportunity to develop and improve as a wide receiver, but I feel like I’ve made significant strides in terms of confidence, route running, and being able to play comfortably in numerous locations, as well as understanding the greater picture with defenses and coverages. Everything. It was huge to be able to build on it this offseason.”

The comfort factor in Tolbert’s NFL career start should not be overlooked, though. Tolbert was already considered a bit of a reach by the Cowboys when they selected him in the third round out of South Alabama. Furthermore, the wide receiver room lost Amari Cooper last summer and failed to replace him. Michael Gallup was coming off a ruptured ACL and wasn’t ready to start the season. He didn’t look like himself the entire year as he worked his way back into shape.

This left the Cowboys with a significant hole at receiver behind CeeDee Lamb, which fell in part on Tolbert’s shoulders. Tolbert finds himself not only trying to acclimatize to the NFL, but also filling some significant holes on the wide receiver depth chart.