The Dallas Cowboys swore up and down that they had found a diamond in the rough in Western Illinois UDFA Dennis Houston. QB Dak Prescott was enamored with the wideout, stating he was always where he needed to be when the QB was ready to target him. He was such a revelation that he ended up being one of a handful of UDFA’s to make the club out of camp. Even more to his credit, Houston was active on the 48-man game-day roster, ahead of third-round selection Jalen Tolbert.
Unfortunately, once the games mattered, the results weren’t there. Houston saw five targets in Week 1, catching two of them for 16 yards. That was on 39 offensive snaps. In Week 2, he saw just 21 snaps and only one target, failing to register a reception. Before Week 3, his NFL dreams had to hit the pause button for a while. Dallas waived the rookie on Tuesday.
What’s next for Houston
Being waived means that any NFL club has the right to select his rookie contract and place him on their 53-man roster. If Houston clears waivers, the Cowboys will likely sign him to a practice-squad contract to continue working with the club and trying to develop.
A team would have to make a serious commitment to the young player to add him to their roster, but stranger things have happened. Fifth-round rookie DT John Ridgeway was signed by Washington after he was waived this past weekend, but at least there Dallas snatched him up before 70+ other selections were made. Several teams put claims in on the former Razorback.
But nobody used a pick on Houston and he’d have had to really catch a team’s eye in the preseason in order to persuade them to walk away from someone who initially made that club to make room for Houston.
What Prescott saw in Houston
Here is one of several offseason quotes from the Cowboys QB on Houston:
“When you break the huddle he’s lining up in the right spot, no matter what position he’s in. This goes way back to the spring, running the routes at the right depth every time he’s firing off the ball. He’s giving good looks. He’s where I expect him to be on each and every play and he’s coming back and asking about things, communicating about things. ” 8-4-22
What this could mean for Jalen Tolbert
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It appears on the surface that Tolbert would be the biggest benficiary. He’s been inactive…
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