For nearly three years, return specialist KaVontae Turpin has made the Cowboys return game one of the most feared in the NFL. The former USFL MVP demanded respect from the start in Dallas and was honored as a rookie and Pro Bowl player .
While Turpin's workload in Mike McCarthy's offense increases every year, it's still generally a niche role. Through 11 weeks in 2024, Turpin had just five rushing attempts and 31 downfield targets. Offensively, he's on track for a career season intended for the former TCU receiver.
Turpin remained largely in a supporting and supportive role over the years. Despite the obvious need for speed and playmaking ability on offense, McCarthy struggled to include Turpin. The 28-year-old hasn't made it easy for his coach, dropping some key passes and running some undisciplined routes, but one can argue that it's not Turpin's job to fill McCarthy's roles, it's McCarthy's job to find the right roles for Turpin to find.
Such a statement may sound like semantics or even blame, but in reality Turpin is only 5 feet 7 inches tall, soaking wet and sprawled out. He's not the plug-and-play that WR McCarthy wanted him to be.
For most of the season, Turpin's on-field results were disappointing. Until, of course, last week when he was used in a way that relied on his strengths. Turpin's ability to be a game-breaker was on full display against Houston when he scored He demonstrated his ability to separate, create in space and travel a short distance in the blink of an eye.
Turpin's slope route for six points was only the second slope Turpin ran all season. It's an inexcusable situation for an offensive coach who by nature relies on slant ways to an almost absurd degree.
Instead of using Turpin on pick routes, screens and slants, the Cowboys have deployed their diminutive dynamo downfield, where his size and experience understandably shine through. Over the last two-plus seasons in Dallas, Turpin has been misused and underutilized to an unforgivable degree.
One could argue that his actual number of touches is almost maxed out given his frame and that McCarthy has merely retained him as a return man. But with Turpin's speed and game-breaking ability, he doesn't even need the ball in his hands to be effective. Moving him behind the line at the snap and pulling him flat across the formation after the snap is a great way to spread the defense horizontally, create space on pass routes, and widen rushing lanes on runs.
It's also worth noting that no one has any idea where this usage rate is highest because it hasn't been found yet. Turpin has played in 43 of a possible 44 regular-season games since arriving in Dallas. He has proven to be extremely durable even in the harsh life of a returnee.
A restricted free agent in 2025Turpin could be somewhere else in the near future. There's a very real chance that his best years as an offensive weapon lie ahead of him if his next coach is more willing to use him in a way that plays to his strengths.
