When his phone rang on Friday night, Jalen Tolbert wasn’t exactly shocked to see that the incoming call was from “The Star.”
Turns out the 23-year-old wide receiver from the University of South Alabama had an inkling- or two- that the Cowboys might be calling on draft weekend.
Not only had the third-round selection done a private workout with Cowboys that went exceptionally well, he revealed after being the 88th overall pick that he had gotten a rather unusual call in the days leading up to the draft… from none other than the man who’ll now be throwing him passes on Sundays.
“I got a phone call from Dak a couple days ago,” Tolbert told The Draft Show shortly after hearing his name called. “We talked on the phone for about twenty minutes and just talked about ball and relationship with quarterbacks and what I could bring to the table.”
What Tolbert brings is a 6-foot-1-inch frame, good high-point ability, the ability to line up in multiple spots, and a knack for contested catches. He was the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2021 after 82 receptions and 1,474 receiving yards, marks that broke his own school records.
His body of work with the Jaguars- plus an impressive Senior Bowl showing against college all-star talent- earned him a private workout with the Cowboys shortly after South Alabama’s Pro Day.
New wideouts coach Robert Prince called Tolbert “the right type of guy, a guy we’re going to have to kick out of the building. That’s how hard he’s going to want to work.”
Work started at that very first session with Prince.
“The workout was a great workout, and we both enjoyed it,” Tolbert told reporters via conference call over the weekend. “I showed that I can retain information and be able to run routes in the system of the Cowboys. After, I remember asking Coach, ‘Hey Coach, what can I work on?’ and he was like, ‘I’ll tell you that when we make you a Cowboy,’ so I kind of got a little heads- up there.”
Speaking directly with him on draft night from the war room, Prince confirmed that Tolbert’s workout had sealed the deal.
“We knew this day was coming, didn’t we? I knew when we left the building that this was going to happen, that you were our guy.”
The Cowboys got such a good feeling that Prescott reached out to him personally leading up to the draft. That phone call not only helped sell Prescott on the small-school prospect, it also went a long way in convincing the Cowboys front office that they were zeroing in on someone who would mesh well with the playmakers already in their locker room.
“For me, that was a Dak thing,” said vice president of player personnel Will McClay in the team’s Day 2 press conference. “It’s the importance of him to the organization. He reached out, and we said, ‘Hey, here’s some guys for you to do your thing with.’ Because we’re 50-plus years old here, and we have an impression and a feeling about him, and the guys that are in the locker room also pick up tendencies and things. It was important for a great person like him to reach out to these guys and give us some feedback.”
Prescott was the only quarterback Tolbert says he heard from, as it’s not a common practice.
“I actually thought it was a call, like, ‘Hey, is this your draft pick number?’” Tolbert shared with media members. “I answered, and he was like, ‘Jalen!’ and I was like, ‘What’s up?’ and he was like, ‘It’s Dak Prescott, man. How are you doing?’ For a minute, it was a surreal moment, because I never knew quarterbacks would call prospects, but it was awesome.”
And as the Cowboys try to rebuild their receivers room following the offseason departures of Amari Cooper, Cedrick Wilson, and Malik Turner, the fact that Prescott started to develop a bond and chemistry with his newest receiver before he’d even been selected on draft night can only pay dividends moving forward.
As for Tolbert, he was hoping to hit his new QB back while he was still at his own draft party.
“He told me to hit him up if I needed anything,” the Mobile native said Friday. “I’m definitely calling him tonight and letting him know that I’m ready to get all the plays. I need the playbook.”