OXNARD, Calif. -- Preseason games like Saturday's against the Seattle Seahawks (8 p.m. ET, NFL Network) meant everything to Ryan Flournoy in his first two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
A sixth-round pick in 2024, Flournoy was guaranteed only an opportunity, not a job. He did enough to tease his talent -- like the two touchdown catches he had in his rookie preseason -- to stay around.
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While he could slip into the training camp fields in anonymity those years, things have changed for Flournoy. On the Cowboys' wide receiver hierarchy there was CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin and maybe Jonathan Mingo ahead of him on whatever depth chart may have been available.
This summer, he has a guaranteed spot and role. He likely will not even be asked to play against the Seahawks.
He secured the No. 3 role behind Lamb and Pickens last season, finishing with 40 catches for 475 yards and four touchdowns. In Week 5 last season, he caught six passes for 114 yards against the New York Jets with Lamb on the sideline with a high ankle sprain. He had his second 100-yard game later against the Detroit Lions (nine catches for 115 yards and a touchdown).
"I'm in a different spot," Flournoy said. "I want to say last year I was wide receiver six or something like that. Now coming in as wide receiver three, my confidence is up. I know what to expect. I know what to do. Definitely just having fun, playing comfortable."
Ryan Flournoy has 50 catches, 577 yards and 4 TDs in 27 career games, but he appears poised for a bigger role in 2026. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images In a way, the Cowboys got lucky with Flournoy when they waived the wide receiver last August, as they worked their final moves on the 53-man roster. Even though coach Brian Schottenheimer told him they wanted him back on the practice squad if he cleared waivers, Flournoy did not know what his future held.
There was a chance he could go anywhere.
"That was the only scary part, [like] the Eagles or something," he said, shaking his head like a child asked to eat vegetables.