OXNARD, Calif. — Ryan Flournoy hit a different level of understanding around the third or fourth week of last season, Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said Wednesday, and the Dallas Cowboys have watched it hold since.
Flournoy caught 40 passes on 53 targets for 475 yards and 4 touchdowns in 16 games in 2025, all career highs. Dallas waived him on Aug. 28, 2025, re-signed him to the practice squad two days later, and put him back on the active roster in September.
Klayton Adams on Ryan Flournoy’s Development
Adams said he talks constantly about the fourth install, and that a player has to get past it before he can reach the level he is describing.
“Flo kind of got to the point maybe week three or four last year where he became like a sentient player, where you explain the details to him, you kind of give them the black and white. You want to make things as black and white as you can for the players so they kind of have an idea and understanding,” Adams said. “But when guys hit that certain level of understanding where they’re like, I know exactly why this route is complementing this route, I know exactly where it is in the read, and I know when there’s gray area what I can and I can’t do, when he hit that level his confidence, bang, it grew.”
“I think it was probably the Jets game where he started coming out and really getting the opportunities and making the plays,” Adams continued. “But that’s where we’re trying to kind of push a lot of these guys. I always talk about the fourth install. I think you got to get past that before you can reach that level as a player. But it’s definitely been fun to watch with him because it’s just continued and grown, both from his development in the meeting room with Junior Adams and Bravo. Those guys do a great job with him, but it’s fun to watch players grow on their own when they hit that level, and he’s doing that, and I love the guy. He’s a great dude to be around, an awesome player.”
Flournoy’s first 100-yard game came in Week 5 at the New York Jets with CeeDee Lamb out. He caught 6 passes for 114 yards in a 37-22 win at MetLife Stadium. His biggest game came in Week 14 against Detroit, when he had 9 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown, including a 42-yard score.
Ryan Flournoy’s Role in the Dallas Cowboys’ Receiver Room
Dallas drafted Flournoy in the sixth round in 2024 out of Southeast Missouri State. He played 27 games across his first two seasons and has 50 career catches for 577 yards.
Lamb and George Pickens are the starters, with Pickens playing 2026 on the franchise tag. Flournoy held the third spot through last season.
Special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen said Wednesday that Flournoy is one of the players the staff is training as a backup holder, and that he has taken reps there in recent weeks.
Dallas plays at Arizona on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT on NFL Network.
