Dallas Cowboys

Do the Cowboys possess a Top Five Receiving Corps?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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A football analytics website ranks the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver corps in the top five among the league’s best overall receiver groups.

When referencing the Dallas Cowboys 5-1 record through the first six weeks of the 2016 NFL regular season, many will point to the stellar play of the Cowboys offensive line as the primary reason for their success. Others, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott‘s presence under center. Or fellow first-year running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s explosive performances in the past few weeks.

Rarely do media pundits or fans list the contribution of the Cowboys wide receiver corps as a primary reason for Dallas’ resurgence. That’s likely do to the fact All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant has missed the Cowboys last three games due to a leg injury.

Even without Bryant, Dallas’ receiver corps has been getting the job done. Led by one of the NFL’s best slot receivers, Cole Beasley, the Cowboys haven’t missed Dez as much as they did last season when the talented wide out missed seven games with a foot injury.

Beasley leads the Cowboys in receptions (33), receiving yardage (390) and receiving touchdowns (3) through the first six games of the season. Stalwart tight end Jason Witten is second on that list with 28 catches for 274 yards. And fourth-year receiver Terrance Williams has recorded 20 receptions for 311 yards and a score through Week Six.

The Cowboys receiving corps has found success in the team’s last three victories. And they have done so without their main receiver threat in Bryant. So one can only imagine what this team is capable of at full strength. According to one football analytic site, the Dallas Cowboys would have a Top Five receiving attack.

“The emergence of Cole Beasley as an unstoppable slot weapon has really pushed the Cowboys’ receiving corps up our rankings,” wrote Michael Renner on the analytic website Pro Football Focus last week. “He currently owns the third-highest receiving grade in the NFL and has caught 86.8 percent of his targets on the season, the best rate in the league. Dez Bryant has been hampered by injury for awhile now, but when he returns, Dallas has so many different options for opposing defenses to account for.”

Pro Football Focus ranked the Cowboys receiver corps the fourth best in the entire NFL through the first six weeks of the season. Only the New England Patriots, the Washington Redskins and the Arizona Cardinals were ranked higher.

Through three games so far this season, Bryant has recorded 11 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. The Pro Bowl receiver is expected to make his much anticipated return to the starting lineup in Week Eight to face the 4-2 Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday. If so, it will be the first time in nearly a month that this Cowboys receiving corps would be at full strength.