In 2022, USFL MVP KaVontae Turpin became a pleasant surprise for the Cowboys as a return specialist. In 2023, he hopes to become a pleasant surprise on offense in Dallas.
Appearing recently on the Blogging the Boys podcast, via NFL.com, Turpin said his goal for next season is to get the ball more when the Cowboys have the ball.
“We had a talk during my exit meeting, basically saying like they already know what I did with the special teams this year and all that, but they are going to try and get me on the offense and try to make guys respect me more on both sides of the ball,” Turpin said. “I’m going into this training camp, I’m basically trying to show them that they have no choice but to use me on offense, that’s my mindset.”
Per NFL.com, Turpin had 61 snaps on offense in 2022, with four total touches. In the playoffs, Turpin had three offensive snaps, with one catch for eight yards.
That catch came on the final snap of the year for Dallas, with Turpin the first piece of a Stanford Band puzzle that became obliterated before it could even get going. Next year, Turpin will hope to have more of an impact.
“I’m a playmaker with the ball in my hand and I can scare guys without the ball,” Turpin said. “Just on the same field together, me and CeeDee Lamb, I just feel like that’s my biggest thing going on, just showing them that they gotta have me on the field.”
Turpin’s size will eventually become an issue if/when he’s used more extensively on offense. He’s listed at five-nine and a meager 153 pounds. It’s hard to imagine him handling the physical demands of getting hit repeatedly by NFL-caliber defensive backs.
Maybe he’s sufficiently elusive to avoid it. But he definitely didn’t avoid it when he got the pass that launched the last-gasp lateral play that wasn’t.
