When the Dallas Cowboys signed third year receiver Ryan Flournoy to a one-year, $4,500,000 extension this summer, it was hailed as a bargain. Flournoy was a preseason favorite to have a breakout year in 2026. Securing him through 2027 meant the Cowboys would be cashing in while his value and notoriety around the league was low, which frankly, would be a rare example of foresight for the Cowboys.
Three weeks into the expected “breakout season,” Flournoy has yet to make much of a positive impact. In fact, Flournoy is on pace for fewer receiving yards than he had last season. In 2025, Flournoy posted 475 yards playing 16 games with four starts. In 2026, Flournoy is averaging 22.4 yards/game which projects to just 379.7 yards in a 17-game season. He’s
doing this despite playing in an 11 personnel starting role and with a heavy week-to-week target rate.
Speaking of target rate, Flournoy is having significant connectivity issues with Dak Prescott this season. For whatever reason, the two cannot get on the same page and with a catch percentage of just 50 percent, they are operating over 20 percentage points below their career average.
Man Flournoy made played like that all camp.
— Connor Livesay (@ConnorNFLDraft) September 27, 2026
Just hasn’t finished them since the start of the season.
Similarly, Flournoy’s success rate is at a career low, floating around 33 percent. His yards/reception have dropped from 11.9 to 7.4, and his yards after catch have dropped from 5.1 to 3.9. It seems the way in which he’s being used and some plain old bad luck are holding Flournoy back this season.
With just three weeks in the books, this type of lackluster play will likely get corrected. But it’s something that shouldn’t be written off completely. Flournoy’s depth of route on his receptions this year are over three yards less than last season, indicating the Cowboys aren’t sending him on his usual routes. Perhaps he’s better accustomed to deeper patterns and getting him back into his comfort zone could be the cure.
Ryan Flournoy finally gets his first reception on his seventh target. Very timely gain of 13 yards. Cowboys up to the DAL 48.
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) September 27, 2026
It’s also possible Prescott’s time in the pocket is impacting the connection. Prescott targeted him eight times last week in Rio de Janeiro, but Flournoy only pulled in two of them. More time for Prescott would have meant better passes to Flournoy.
With just one official drop, he’s not under the risk of losing Prescott’s confidence or relinquishing his starting role. He’s still a promising player whom Dallas was wise to preemptively re-sign. But the connectivity issues are real and need to be addressed because the Cowboys need their offense at peak efficiency this year.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys’ connectivity issues: Prescott and $4.5M WR hurting offense
