Cowboys rookie WR set to make first NFL start Monday vs Texans

Whether they should be tinkering or tanking probably depends on your personal point of view, but the 3-6 Cowboys are still throwing the kitchen sink at their offensive lineup heading into their Week 11 matchup with the Houston Texans.

Cooper Rush has already taken over at quarterback thanks to a serious hamstring injury to Dak Prescott. Head coach Mike McCarthy finally admitted last week that Rico Dowdle is the team's lead running back. Even depth OL pieces like Asim Richards and T.J Bass have seen live game action over the past several weeks.

And now a rookie wide receiver appears ready to contribute in a new way as the Cowboys embark on a brutal stretch of three games in an 11-day span.

According to an Instagram post he made on Monday, sixth-round draft pick Ryan Flournoy will make his first NFL start when the Cowboys host their intrastate rivals at AT&T Stadium.

The 25-year-old out of Southeast Missouri State has two catches on three targets so far this season and has appeared in five games for Dallas, logging 47 total offensive snaps.

What's not immediately clear is what kind of ripple effect Flournoy's start might have on the rest of the WR corps. CeeDee Lamb popped up on the injury report over the weekend with a back issue, though the team is reportedly optimistic about his status.

"Everything right now is pointing for him to play," a source told NFL Network's Jane Slater midday Monday.

Brandin Cooks has been sidelined since the beginning of October, and third-year man Jalen Tolbert has already started every game for the Cowboys this season. Jalen Brooks started Week 9's game in Atlanta, and KaVontae Turpin got the nod in Week 6 versus Detroit. Jalen Cropper has been used very sparingly but has yet to crack the starting lineup.

Dallas also added second-year option Jonathan Mingo 13 days ago via a trade with Carolina. He has been expected to make his Cowboys debut Monday night as well.

But now it's apparently Flournoy's turn to start. While the starting lineup is often merely a ceremonial honor dictated simply by the personnel package required to run the first pre-scripted play, it could be assumed that the team has at least a few routes designed to try to really see what they have for the future in the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder. And given the demands that the next week and a half will put on Cowboys players, this move may be simply a pre-emptive way to spread the physical toll around.

Earlier in the season, though, team owner Jerry Jones hyped up the rookie by comparing him to a longtime favorite of Cowboys fans.

"He's got Dez Bryant stuff to him," Jones said prior to Flournoy's NFL debut in the Week 5 win over Pittsburgh.

Flournoy will theoretically get some chances Monday night in a Dallas passing attack that struggled mightily last weekend. In his first start at QB since 2022, Rush delivered a historically poor performance against the Eagles in a blowout loss, continuing something of a theme for the blue and silver.

The Cowboys currently rank first in the league in pass attempts per game (39.4), but they fall all the way to the bottom 10 when measuring net yards per attempt (just 5.5).

So the opportunities will likely be there. Now it's up to Flournoy to capitalize on them.