{"id":214472,"date":"2026-03-21T16:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T16:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214472\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T16:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T16:16:23","slug":"dallas-cowboys-ryan-flournoy-set-for-a-bigger-role-and-a-breakout-season-in-2026-inside-the-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214472\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys’ Ryan Flournoy Set for a Bigger Role and a Breakout Season in 2026 \u00bb Inside The Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

You didn\u2019t notice Ryan Flournoy right away when you watched the Cowboys last season. Everyone\u2019s eyes went to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, that\u2019s where the attention is, and it\u2019s warranted.<\/p>\n

If you stayed around for a few drives later in the season, you would have started to notice something, the space that keeps showing up between the numbers.<\/p>\n

That space doesn\u2019t happen without the superstars outside. It was created due to the respect shown to Lamb and Pickens<\/a>, and Flournoy found a way to exploit it late in the season.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

The Offense Creates Opportunities Without Force<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the old Cowboys offense where Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb dominated every offensive snap<\/a>. It was much more balanced, and because of that, it\u2019s tougher to defend over four quarters.<\/p>\n

Pickens forces you to stay honest, while Lamb takes care of the underneath, but if you\u2019re sleeping he will get deep.<\/p>\n

That combination alone keeps defenses from sitting on routes, and you see constant adjustments, rolling coverage, shifting leverage, just trying to take something away.<\/p>\n

With every adjustment, the unsung wide receiver starts to expose the defense.<\/p>\n

Ryan Flournoy finds a way to get open<\/a>. He may not be the first option or the second option, but he doesn\u2019t have to be.<\/p>\n

Flournoy is the player who benefits when everything else is working.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

Ryan Flournoy\u2019s Stats Tell a Quieter Story<\/p>\n

If you look at his numbers from last season<\/a>, nothing jumps out:<\/p>\n

40 catches
\n475 yards
\n4 touchdowns<\/p>\n

Ryan Flournoy doesn\u2019t need a heavy workload to stay involved. When the ball came his way, he caught it and that\u2019s all you could ask for.<\/p>\n

The other part of this equation that will come to fruition next season is that Flournoy will not be fighting with Jalen Tolbert for snaps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tolbert is now in Miami<\/a> and Flournoy has a hold on the third receiver spot. Ryan Flournoy is now ready to take more of the offense, and he has earned it.<\/p>\n

All you want from a third receiver is to make the catches thrown your way, be reliable. He won\u2019t disrupt the offense, but he will keep the chains moving.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

Not Every Role is About Chasing the Big Numbers<\/p>\n

As a fan, it\u2019s easy to look at the receivers and judge them off of catches and yards, but that\u2019s not always how impact shows up in a game.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it\u2019s a big third-down catch that keeps a drive alive. Or finding a soft spot in the defense when they are locked on to the superstars. Just being in the right place at the right time is where Flournoy will thrive.<\/p>\n

We may not see highlight reel type plays, but good plays stack as the season progresses. A balanced offense is what matters, not constant big-play drives.<\/p>\n

The Ryan Flournoy Stats Projection for 2026<\/p>\n

Ryan Flournoy\u2019s stat projection for 2026<\/a> isn\u2019t complicated.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not going to be a Pro-Bowl player who is force-fed targets, and he doesn\u2019t need to be. The catches are going to come naturally as the offense moves through its progressions.<\/p>\n

A realistic range could look like this:<\/p>\n

50\u201360 catches
\nAbout 700 yards
\n4\u20136 touchdowns<\/p>\n

Not flashy, but consistent, and that is exactly what this type of offense needs from Ryan Flournoy.<\/p>\n

A Role that Grows On You Over a Season<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t need Ryan Flournoy to carry this offense, that is what the heavy hitters on the outside are for<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With all that attention going elsewhere, Flournoy just has to be ready when the opportunity comes. If the offense is doing what it\u2019s supposed to be doing in 2026, chances are going to be there.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be every drive, maybe not even every quarter, but enough to matter.<\/p>\n

We all know that sometimes the difference between a win and loss isn\u2019t the player everyone is watching.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the one who shows up when nobody else is. <\/p>\n

Was this helpful?<\/p>\n

Thanks for your feedback!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You didn\u2019t notice Ryan Flournoy right away when you watched the Cowboys last season. Everyone\u2019s eyes went to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[83949,102,104,103,18147,83950,70707,18148,83951,46065],"class_list":["post-214472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-2026-offense","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-jalen-tolbert","tag-player-stats","tag-players-cap","tag-ryan-flournoy","tag-stats-projection","tag-wide-receiver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}