Cowboys draft pick Ryan Flournoy could be a weapon for new-look NFL kickoff rules

The Cowboys found themselves an athlete in SE Missouri State’s Ryan Flournoy.

The Dallas Cowboys have a brand new wide receiver and he is quite the specimen. As the sixth round came to a close the Cowboys called in their selection for SE Missouri State wide receiver Ryan Flournoy. He needs some development to be fully ready for the NFL level, but he enters the league as an athletic marvel.

Like last year’s first-round pick Mazi Smith did the year prior, Flournoy appeared on Bruce Feldman’s “Freak List” at The Athletic. He is very fast and particularly so with the football in his hands.

Consider that while at the NFL Combine that Flournoy tested with the fastest GPS time among wide receivers. The wideout who did that the year before was Puka Nacua who took the league by storm with the Los Angeles Rams.

Obviously having a very fast wide receiver is a good thing when you are on offense, but it is worth wondering out loud whether or not Flournoy presents as an option for the league’s new kickoff rules. Given that whoever is receiving kickoffs will start with a unique level of blockers ahead of them the real advantage is going to belong to the athlete who can most properly utilize their overall skillset, not necessarily just the fastest player.

Flournoy has speed, but he also has explosiveness which is great to see. The Cowboys got a bit of a value with taking him so late in the sixth round and this is the kind of pick you want to make at that spot. You aren’t quite buying lottery tickets, but you are drafting for traits and qualities that you deem to be special.

It is going to be very exciting to see Flournoy work soon enough.