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.
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."
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.
As he awaited his fate, Flournoy went to a local football field and ran routes. He guessed at what might be coming for that week's practice for the Cowboys because he didn't want to be behind if he went unclaimed.
"It's a gamble with all these decisions that we make and all the roster gamesmanship that we all play," Schottenheimer said, "but I certainly like the outcome."
This August, Flournoy is an integral part of the Cowboys' offense and fans now yell out his name from the stands in Oxnard, California. Quarterback Dak Prescott looks his way with full trust and confidence.
The Cowboys know what type of productivity they will get from Lamb, who has five straight 1,000-yard seasons, and Pickens, who had career highs in catches (93), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine) last season.
The ascension of Flournoy makes a dangerous offense more dangerous.
"He is a guy," Lamb said. "And the way he's developed in his last, I want to say seven, eight months, if you will, or really just later on in the season, you can see him really emerge and start filling himself. Again, confidence is the main thing about this league, especially at the receiver position, because you never know when your [opportunity] is going to come. But when it does, you want to cherish it and take advantage. So I feel like he did a great job then."
Said Pickens, "Detail guy. That's what I mean by detail can put you at a high standard. When you come from the position he came from and you have high detail, you end up being where he is."
Prescott's belief in Flournoy goes deeper than just what happened at The Star or in training camp. Whenever the quarterback sent out the text message that he wanted to have a throwing session, Flournoy was there.
"Always asking questions, always just doing the right thing," Prescott said. "He's a guy that you want on your team. He's a guy that you want on your team no matter what game you're playing. His belief in himself, I think that's where it starts. And the moment he's gotten his opportunity, he's never looked back. And not only never looked back, he's looking to get more opportunities, to get more responsibility, to do more for the team."
Flournoy has eyes on 1,000 yards. Five teams have had three 1,000-yard receivers in a season, the 2008 Arizona Cardinals being the most recent (Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Steve Breaston).
In 2020, Lamb's rookie season, there was talk of possibly having three 1,000-yard receivers with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Lamb, a first-round pick, but it never happened.
"I wanted 1,000 yards last year," Flournoy said. "But definitely, honestly, 1,000 yards for everybody on the offense. I feel like me, GP, CeeDee, even [tight end Jake Ferguson] can do it."
That might be a tad much, even for an offense that wants to be GOTI -- "Greatest Offense There Is" -- but from where Flournoy came from, why not?
Flournoy's rise is not as rapid as that of Miles Austin, an undrafted free agent in 2006 who, in 2009, set a franchise record by catching 10 passes for 250 yards and two scores in an overtime win against the Kansas City Chiefs, which led to back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances. But they're in the same neighborhood with their matching No. 19s.
"That was kind of the reason I picked 19," Flournoy said. "I was 80 my rookie year. Obviously Miles Austin was in 19. Amari Cooper was in 19. They got the 88 tradition, I wanted to do the 19 tradition for sure."