Every year there are standouts at each team's training camp who have fans convinced of a special future. It has happened time and time again with the LA Chargers, and even more so with a prominent team like the Dallas Cowboys.
On special occasions, a player can become a training camp standout for two different teams, convincing their new team of all these lovely possibilities they failed to live up to with their former team. That is what is happening now with former Chargers wideout, Tyron Billy-Johnson.
Billy-Johnson got his start in the NFL with the Chargers in 2020 and was a valuable deep-ball threat for Justin Herbert who hauled in just under 400 yards and three receiving touchdowns. After a solid training camp the following year, Chargers fans were devastated when former head coach Brandon Staley cut him from the 53-man roster.
Time proved that to be the right decision as Billy-Johnson hasn't done anything in the NFL since then and has bounced around from team to team. Now he finds himself back in Southern California at Cowboys training camp in Oxnard and the hope has been reignited. Just like he was with the Chargers, Billy-Johnson has turned into a training camp star for the Cowboys.
Tyron Billy-Johnson is this years “that dudes got something” WR in Cowboys camp
— Jeff Cavanaugh (@timeforjeffrey) July 30, 2024
Cowboys fans are set up for disappointment just like Chargers fans were
Billy-Johnson has become a talking point during Cowboys training camp as he has turned in impressive tape thus far. But as Chargers fans know all too well, this impressive tape does not mean anything in relation to how he will play in 2024.
Dallas is the sixth team Billy-Johnson has joined since being cut by the Chargers but despite that he has only played 15 games. In those 15 games, Billy-Johnson has hauled in a less-than-impressive three receptions for 24 yards.
Billy-Johnson has the perfect recipe for success during training camp when play is not as physical. He is long, fast, and can make routine catches when he takes the top off of a defense in a one-on-one assignment. But when you add physicality against a true first-team defense the story changes.
Chargers fans are the most educated on this phenomenon so it is only fair they warn Cowboys fans about what is coming. Billy-Johnson will look great in training camp. Heck, he might even turn in a preseason showing that makes it seem like he is destined for great things in 2024.
But at the end of the day, he is not going to be someone who makes much of a difference, if any, on the Cowboys (or any team, for that matter) in 2024. If the Cowboys are in a position where they need Billy-Johnson to produce, that says more about the team than it does the player.