*Editor's Note: Throughout the off-season, DallasCowboys.com staff writers will take a closer look at the roster, analyzing players' impact last season and how each fits into the team's 2015 plans. Today's Roster Rundown entry features wide receiver Devin Street.*
Name: Devin Street
Position:Wide Receiver
Height/Weight:6-3 / 200
Experience: 1 season
College: Pittsburgh
Key stat:For a fifth-round pick who caught only two passes, Street's most impressive figure was 16. That's how many games he suited up for, showing the coaches not only had confidence to play him, but he was a ready backup in case of an injury.
Contract Status:Signed through 2017
2014 Impact: In the big picture, Devin Street didn't have an impact on the season. His role was to be active each week, play in certain packages and if something happened to one of the other receivers injury wise he was there to fill the void. By also having him active each week he gained valuable experience of what it took to prepare each week to play but it also allowed him to grow and appreciate how tough it is to play receiver in this league. Some of the techniques that he was able to get away with while playing at Pittsburgh doesn't always work at this level. Derek
Dooley has worked with him daily on his mental and physical toughness because you do see the other traits of initial quickness and vertical separation. Dooley is also coaching him to become more comfortable in reading coverages and using that knowledge to help him work to get open. In my opinion, this is where I feel that Street needs this most work. He needs more consistency in using the same technique over and over to the point where it becomes second nature. Dez Bryant was not a great route runner his rookie year but through the years, he has developed that sense of what he needs to do when coming off the ball - Devin Street is in that same situation. I thought he caught the ball better in college, especially on the move and down the field than he did his rookie season. This is another area where Dooley is working to improve his game.
Where He Fits: Depending on whom you visit with within the organization, the player they feel that will have the biggest jump from one season to another is Devin Street. The thought is that if Street would have received as many opportunities as Terrance Williams had his first season you would have seen a better player. The fact that the coaches and front office had him on the active roster should also tell you plenty about what they feel they have in the player because the lack of production would not have said that he should not have been on the 46 man game day roster. How he responds to the coaching that he is getting and is able to apply that to his work on the field will determine how much more he plays but there are plenty of important decision makers lining up in his corner.
Writers' Analysis:
Nick Eatman:Here's a player who had to be doing a lot more in practice to impress the coaches than the rest of us got to see. It didn't seem like Street had a huge role on game day, yet he was always active. Sometimes, it's easy to judge a player strictly by his own position. So for receivers like him, if he has just two catches all year, we think he was insignificant. Obviously, the fifth receiver on this team is really the ninth option in the passing game after four receivers, two tight ends and probably two tailbacks. So Street wasn't a factor catching the ball, but we did see him blocking downfield quite a bit. He had a nice catch against the Jaguars in London that was wiped out by a penalty, but it showed his ability to go catch the ball. Overall, I think the Dwayne Harris departure will open the door for Street as the fourth receiver. But he'll still have to be a contributor on special teams somehow.
