Cowboys receiver Ryan Flournoy rose through the ranks in the second half of the season, and now he is the undoubted No. 3 receiver for Brian Schottenheimer.
The 2025 season will be looked back on as the year Dallas Cowboys receiver Ryan Flournoy took a stranglehold on the No.3 receiver role.
Jalen Tolbert, after a superb 2024 campaign (610 yards, 7 TDs), entered the year in that role, but as the season went on, Jalen found himself on the outside looking in.
That meant chances for Flo, and he didn't waste them.
Games of 114, 30, 34, 115, 40, and 68 yards, along with four touchdowns as a bit-part player, Flo shot up the depth chart and overtook Tolbert.
With Jalen a free agent after this season, Flo's rise, according to our own Mike Fisher, means the end of the road in Dallas for Tolbert.
"Their characterization, what the Cowboys think of Flournoy, it's not meant as an indictment of Tolbert, it's just a compliment to Flournoy, God almighty, he loves football,” Fish said on the Fish Report. “He's obsessed with it.
"Not saying anything negative about Tolbert, a quality guy, a NFL wide receiver. They're so in love with Flournoy as the third guy, they might not even make a offer to Tolbert. He's not even a second thought."
Given that Tolbert was a healthy scratch several times this season, along with when he was active, he had six games with no receptions, which meant he didn't claim the No. 3 role as his own.
But Flo did.
The NFL is all about taking your chances.
Tolbert had a shot in 2025 to firmly put his case for a new contract forward.
Instead, he had a second-year receiver overtake him, and it's not even close now.
"Flournoy, they are they're very committed to him," Fish added. "We're about done with Tolbert. And the reason they're so committed to Flournoy is he's so committed to them."
That's about as black and white as it gets.
Dallas is "all-in" on Flournoy, and all the way out on Tolbert.
With CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens the top dogs entering 2026 (providing George's contract gets sorted), it will be Flournoy as the third receiver.
And that should excite Cowboys Nation.