Cowboys Michael Gallup: From 'listener' to 'leader' in revamped receivers room

Cowboys Michael Gallup: From 'listener' to 'leader' in revamped receivers room

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys have in a year undergone massive change in the receivers room. And one carryover kid from 2018 is dealing with a massive change of his own.

"I can have a conversation in meetings,'' Gallup said, laughing, "instead of getting yelled at in meetings.''

I thought it was one of the key quotes of training camp in Oxnard. It meant something. And now we are seeing, on the field, what it meant.

Gallup on Saturday helped Dallas dominate the visiting Texans 34-0 in preseason Game 3. The second-year man from Colorado State caught a 12-yard TD pass that was so much about football IQ.

.@Dak escapes and tosses to @Michael13Gallup for SIX! 🙌

📺: #HOUvsDAL on @NFLNetwork
Watch on mobile: https://t.co/TSVSsOzib3 pic.twitter.com/kYSBmKgDRT

— NFL (@NFL) August 24, 2019

 He is demonstrating that he can carry the load even with No. 1 wideout Amari Cooper absent, for hopefully a short time, with a foot injury.

“I’m getting in my groove,” Gallup said. “Dak is seeing me a lot more. With Amari being out right now, that can help get our chemistry going. And then when he comes back, it should be a good time.”

So the receivers room is different in tone. But it's also different in bodies. Consider that at this time last year, these were the wide receivers on the Cowboys’ season-opening roster: Starters Terrance Williams and Deonte Thompson, slot receiver Cole Beasley., and then Allen Hurns, Tavon Austin and the rookie Gallup.

The idea -- a bad one even at the time it was made -- was that Dallas could dump Dez Bryant (which it had done a few months prior) and replace him with "Receiver-by-Committee” (which the Cowboys did for a time before realizing that maybe trading for Amari Cooper was a better idea than starting Deonte Thompson).

Cooper became a Pro Bowler, and might be again. But Gallup has emerged as a viable running mate, and with new vet Randall Cobb replacing the Buffalo-bound Beasley, Dallas' top three looks far better than it did a year ago.

And as for the rest of the room? I think Dallas could keep six receivers on the 53: Cooper, Gallup and Cobb, backed by Austin ... and then maybe both Cedrick Wilson and Devin Smith make the team (with Noah Brown stashed on PUP). That represents quite a remake, with the maturing Gallup as a key piece.

Late last season we broke the story of the suicide of Gallup's brother. It was a trying time, but in my dealings with Michael, he handled it with great grace. He is doing the same now, with obviously a much different challenge, as he is becoming not just a "listener'' in the room but a contributor, too.

 “I missed (Gallup on a throw) during the first drive and that was all on me,'' QB Dak Prescott said of the Texans game. "He comes back asking me (about the plays). That just shows you ... The mature level he has gotten to of wanting to know why if it’s his fault, if it’s not his fault. A lot of good things are going to come from him.”