Ryan Flournoy

From 10 catches as a rookie to 40 in Year 2 — Flournoy's receiving yards jumped 4.7x.

A 6th-round pick out of Southeast Missouri State in 2024, Flournoy spent his rookie year as a deep depth piece — 9 games, 10 catches, 102 yards, 0 TDs. Year 2 unlocked everything: 15 games, 40 catches, 475 yards, 4 TDs, a 4.7x leap in receiving yardage and his first NFL touchdowns.

The target volume jumped from 14 to 56 — a sign Dallas trusted him into a real rotation role by midseason 2025.

Why it matters. A 4.7x year-over-year yardage jump is an unusually steep breakout curve for a 6th-round pick from an FCS program; it signals that Flournoy is earning a real role in the Cowboys' offense rather than just surviving on the roster.

His first two 100-yard games came back-to-back in spirit: W5 at NYJ (114 yds) and W14 vs DET (115 yds, TD).

Both 100-yard games came in 2025 — Week 5 at the Jets (6 catches, 114 yards on 9 targets) and Week 14 vs Detroit (9-115-1 TD on 13 targets). The Detroit game was the high-water mark: 13 targets is a true-WR1 number for a 6th-round Year 2 player.

In his finale at the Giants (Week 18, 7-5-68) he posted a 30.4% target share — the second-highest of his career.

Why it matters. Two 100-yard games in a single season is a meaningful threshold for a late-round depth receiver — it demonstrates he can be a primary option in the offense, not just a depth piece.

32.1% target share in Week 5 — a single-game peak that says the Cowboys treated him like a starter.

Flournoy hit a 32.1% target share at the Jets in Week 5 — his career single-game peak. He cleared 27%+ target share three different times in 2025: Week 5 (NYJ), Week 14 (DET), Week 18 (NYG).

For a 2024 6th-round pick out of an FCS school (Southeast Missouri State), three games at that volume is the kind of marker that earns a real role going into Year 3.

Why it matters. Target share is the cleanest measure of opportunity for a receiver; three separate games above 27% tells you Dallas repeatedly leaned on Flournoy as the primary option, not just during opponent mismatches.

All 4 of his career TDs came across an 8-week stretch (Wk 9 to Wk 16, 2025) — 4 TDs in 4 of those 8 weeks.

He scored his first NFL touchdown in Week 9 vs Arizona (a 12-yard catch), then added three more by Week 16 — all on single-digit target days except the Detroit explosion. The TD week distribution shows what the Cowboys figured out: Flournoy as a red-zone target even when his snap counts were quiet (W11: 1 target, 1 catch, 2 yards, 1 TD).

Why it matters. Four touchdowns all arriving in the second half of a single season — often on minimal targets — is the hallmark of a player discovering a red-zone role; that efficiency can sustain into Year 3 even if total volume stays modest.

4 of his 9 rookie-year games had zero or one targets — then he opened 2025 the same way before erupting in Week 5.

Through 4 weeks of 2025 Flournoy had 5 targets total. Then Week 5 vs the Jets: 9 targets, 6 catches, 114 yards. That game broke the seal — he averaged 3.8 targets/game over the remaining 11 weeks, vs 1.7 in the early stretch.

The pattern fits a Year 2 development arc: special-teams-first role early, then earning offensive snaps as the season went on. Dallas leaned into it more aggressively down the stretch (W14 DET: 13 targets, W18 NYG: 7 targets, 30% share).

Why it matters. The sharp before/after contrast around Week 5 is the clearest evidence that Flournoy's 2025 role was earned mid-season rather than granted from Day 1 — a strong signal of upside heading into Year 3.