The Dallas Cowboys can’t afford to not address the need for a wide receiver this offseason.
The question is how will they do so. The options are to target a veteran in free agency , use the No. 12 overall pick on a top-tier prospect such as Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan or wait until Day 2 or 3 to take a stab at a player they can develop.
Naturally, the latter would be the least impactful of the potential moves but there’s one particular prospect that makes way too much sense in that scenario: Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson.
The reason is simple. Johnson played for new Cowboys wide receivers coach Junior Adams. Not only would coaching continuity would be a luxury that could really benefit Jonson, but the relationship between the two of them has been special.
“Credit to coach Junior Adams, he was always big on building rooms,” Johnson told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. “And the guys that are in the room are always willing to help another guy out. . . Everybody wants somebody to eat, no matter what, even if you’ve got a dominant No. 1 receiver.”
Johnson being in tune with Adams’ philosophy could create the perfect synergy for the receiver to make an immediate impact as a rookie.
I reached out to A to Z Sports Oregon beat writer Jon Helmkamp for his thoughts on Adams and potentially reuniting with the Cowboys:
“Tez Johnson was an Oregon Ducks fan ever since he watched the team play on TV as a small kid. When he first moved in with Bo Nix’s family in high school, he was wearing a Ducks hoodie. After Nix transferred to Oregon, he went to head coach Dan Lanning and wide receivers coach Junior Adams and told them that they needed to watch Tez’s tape. When they decided they wanted to offer in the transfer portal, it was Adams that made the call.
If Tez had to pick, he’d definitely choose to go to Denver to play with Bo, but Johnson is a leader and one of the grittiest workers in this year’s class. Everybody loves him, and with the Cowboys needing help, Adams might just get another opportunity to call Tez Johnson about where he’ll be playing ball next.”
A big problem for Johnson is the fact that he weighed in at 156 pounds at the Senior Bowl. He’s quite the outlier in size but he’s known as a true speedster, which could help the Cowboys stretch the field vertically.
But if Dallas goes on the clock in the third round or even in Day 3 and Johnson’s name is on the board, we’ll see if Adams gets a say in making a reunion happen.