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DCC 4Life
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- Apr 10, 2013
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By Patrik Walker
Remember him?
It's a long shot that you would, considering Cedrick Wilson, Jr. spent the entirety of his rookie season on injured reserve. Wilson got off to a strong start to both the offseason program and training camp, drawing the praise of coaches and at least one former Dallas Cowboys' legend in Drew Pearson. His rapidly ascending balloon was then popped by a torn labrum suffered in late July, ending his first year of professional football before it got started. Meanwhile, what began as a WR-by-committee approach for 2018 morphed into a pipe bomb that exploded in the face of the Cowboys' offensive scheme, and veteran wideout Terrance Williams did nothing to help dig out the shrapnel and ball bearings.
Williams ultimately joined Wilson on IR after suffering a setback on his surgically-repaired foot, logging only two receptions for 18 receiving yards in two starts while being paid over $4 million in the process. Now set to hit the salary cap for $5.25 million in 2019, all signs point to the club moving on from Williams and over to Wilson, a plan they got the ball rolling on last April.
The redshirt out of Boise State is essentially everything the Cowboys saw in Williams when they selected him out of Baylor in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, hoping to land a deep-threat to compliment Dez Bryant at the time. Prior to 2018, Williams was both durable and serviceable as a No. 2 target, but he never became the top-removing weapon the club hoped for -- leading them to try their hand at others like Brice Butler, Deonte Thompson and a variety of lesser-known options like K.D. Cannon. They've now signed former Ohio State speedster Devin Smith to a futures deal as their hunt continues, but Wilson has the edge on both Smith and Williams, with Butler, Thompson and Cannon having all been released last season.
An uphill challenge awaits Wilson, however, needing to remind the Cowboys of his potential after losing his first year to injury.
No slouch to producing when his number is called, the 22-year-old native of Memphis, TN has been known to impact a game or several. Wilson also has the football pedigree, considering his father, Cedrick Wilson, Sr., is a former University of Tennessee and NFL star at the position. That intangible combines with his above-average wingspan, hand size and vertical jump to create a nightmare assignment for smaller defensive backs. If the ball is anywhere near Wilson's impressive catch radius, he's inhaling it.
Physical attributes aside, his high football IQ quickly ingratiated him wideouts coach Sanjay Lal -- who sounded like a kid in a candy store in describing what he saw from the rookie.
"Ced[rick Wilson] has picked up the offense better than most of the guys in the room," said Lal in July 2018, via The Doomsday Podcast. "And now it's becoming like, 'Okay, we need a guy to run in there? Ced, go in', and he knows what to do. ...He's coming along. I'm very happy with it."
And if you don't buy into all of the sleeper hype just yet, well, that's what numbers are for. Wilson reeled in 694 deep pass receiving yards in 2017, and that was good enough for second-most among NCAA draft-eligible FBS wideouts. His 2,640 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns were delivered in only 26 games at Boise State, and for those doing the math at home -- that's an average of over 101 yards per game.
He's really good at American football, and all he does is take the top off of opposing defenses with reckless abandon.
"The guy you might want to watch is the guy they got out of Boise State, Wilson, this guy Cedrick Wilson," Pearson told Will Brinson and the Pick Six Podcast in 2018. "I heard coming out of the rookie minicamp that he was one of the guys who stood out and showed a lot of ability to take his game from the next level, college to the NFL."
High praise from an elite eye.
Wilson can also add the additional wrinkle of throwing the ball out of the backfield, as seen at the 1:23 mark in the video above. The fact he was once a quarterback not only helps him see the field in a way most wideouts never will, but if the Linehan-less offense turns the corner and actually becomes creative in 2019, don't count out Wilson pulling a "Dez Bryant" and logging a TD (or several) as both a passer and a receiver. All things being considered, if he can remain healthy once he returns to the field this year, there's no reason to believe he won't make the final 53-man roster and find himself an integral part of what the Cowboys have planned going forward.
The fact he'll only cost a total cap hit of $524,602 in 2019, versus Williams' monstrous and undeserved $5.25 million -- literally 10x the pay for having only 18 more receiving yards in 2018 -- is simply more reason to cast away the latter.
Much like Tom Hanks, the Cowboys should and do love Wilson.
Remember him?
It's a long shot that you would, considering Cedrick Wilson, Jr. spent the entirety of his rookie season on injured reserve. Wilson got off to a strong start to both the offseason program and training camp, drawing the praise of coaches and at least one former Dallas Cowboys' legend in Drew Pearson. His rapidly ascending balloon was then popped by a torn labrum suffered in late July, ending his first year of professional football before it got started. Meanwhile, what began as a WR-by-committee approach for 2018 morphed into a pipe bomb that exploded in the face of the Cowboys' offensive scheme, and veteran wideout Terrance Williams did nothing to help dig out the shrapnel and ball bearings.
Williams ultimately joined Wilson on IR after suffering a setback on his surgically-repaired foot, logging only two receptions for 18 receiving yards in two starts while being paid over $4 million in the process. Now set to hit the salary cap for $5.25 million in 2019, all signs point to the club moving on from Williams and over to Wilson, a plan they got the ball rolling on last April.
The redshirt out of Boise State is essentially everything the Cowboys saw in Williams when they selected him out of Baylor in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, hoping to land a deep-threat to compliment Dez Bryant at the time. Prior to 2018, Williams was both durable and serviceable as a No. 2 target, but he never became the top-removing weapon the club hoped for -- leading them to try their hand at others like Brice Butler, Deonte Thompson and a variety of lesser-known options like K.D. Cannon. They've now signed former Ohio State speedster Devin Smith to a futures deal as their hunt continues, but Wilson has the edge on both Smith and Williams, with Butler, Thompson and Cannon having all been released last season.
An uphill challenge awaits Wilson, however, needing to remind the Cowboys of his potential after losing his first year to injury.
No slouch to producing when his number is called, the 22-year-old native of Memphis, TN has been known to impact a game or several. Wilson also has the football pedigree, considering his father, Cedrick Wilson, Sr., is a former University of Tennessee and NFL star at the position. That intangible combines with his above-average wingspan, hand size and vertical jump to create a nightmare assignment for smaller defensive backs. If the ball is anywhere near Wilson's impressive catch radius, he's inhaling it.
Physical attributes aside, his high football IQ quickly ingratiated him wideouts coach Sanjay Lal -- who sounded like a kid in a candy store in describing what he saw from the rookie.
"Ced[rick Wilson] has picked up the offense better than most of the guys in the room," said Lal in July 2018, via The Doomsday Podcast. "And now it's becoming like, 'Okay, we need a guy to run in there? Ced, go in', and he knows what to do. ...He's coming along. I'm very happy with it."
And if you don't buy into all of the sleeper hype just yet, well, that's what numbers are for. Wilson reeled in 694 deep pass receiving yards in 2017, and that was good enough for second-most among NCAA draft-eligible FBS wideouts. His 2,640 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns were delivered in only 26 games at Boise State, and for those doing the math at home -- that's an average of over 101 yards per game.
He's really good at American football, and all he does is take the top off of opposing defenses with reckless abandon.
"The guy you might want to watch is the guy they got out of Boise State, Wilson, this guy Cedrick Wilson," Pearson told Will Brinson and the Pick Six Podcast in 2018. "I heard coming out of the rookie minicamp that he was one of the guys who stood out and showed a lot of ability to take his game from the next level, college to the NFL."
High praise from an elite eye.
Wilson can also add the additional wrinkle of throwing the ball out of the backfield, as seen at the 1:23 mark in the video above. The fact he was once a quarterback not only helps him see the field in a way most wideouts never will, but if the Linehan-less offense turns the corner and actually becomes creative in 2019, don't count out Wilson pulling a "Dez Bryant" and logging a TD (or several) as both a passer and a receiver. All things being considered, if he can remain healthy once he returns to the field this year, there's no reason to believe he won't make the final 53-man roster and find himself an integral part of what the Cowboys have planned going forward.
The fact he'll only cost a total cap hit of $524,602 in 2019, versus Williams' monstrous and undeserved $5.25 million -- literally 10x the pay for having only 18 more receiving yards in 2018 -- is simply more reason to cast away the latter.
Much like Tom Hanks, the Cowboys should and do love Wilson.
