2024 Roster Review: Starting Tight End – Part 7 of 17. Click here to view all articles in this series.
Last year when the Dallas Cowboys parted ways with tight end Dalton Schultz, panic set it everywhere.
The fan base was sure the Cowboys would regret Schultz's absence in 2023. The front office panicked and reach for an already injured tight end in the second round of the draft.
As it turned out there really was no cause for alarm.
The Cowboys had their new starting tight end on the roster all along. His name was Jake Ferguson.
Ferguson's Quiet Rookie Season
Drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin, Ferguson backed up Schultz in his rookie campaign.
For the year he would have 19 catches on 22 targets for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged a little over nine yards a catch.
He even managed to be listed as the starter in eight games in 2022.
In his fifth game of the year – a 26-17 loss to the Eagles – he caught four of the six targets thrown his way by Cooper Rush.
One was a seven-yard catch that cut the Eagles lead to 20-17 in the opening minute of the final quarter. He finished that game with 40 receiving yards.
His second touchdown of the year came two weeks later against the Bears on a one-yard pass from Dak Prescott.
His best game of the year came against the Giants on Thanksgiving Day. Ferguson carved up (sorry, not sorry) the Giants with 57 yards on three catches.
In the Wild Card playoff game rout of Tampa Bay, Ferguson had a 34-yard catch and run to the Bucs' six. Prescott scored from a yard out four plays later for a 12-0 lead.
In the Divisional round loss to the 49ers, Ferguson started along with Schultz but only saw 19 offensive snaps to Schultz's 60.
Ferguson was never targeted in the game by Prescott.
The Clear TE1 In 2023
Schultz had finished with 577 yards on 57 receptions and five touchdowns in 2022.
In his five years in Dallas, Schultz had 211 receptions for 2,122 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also had two fumbles.
In 2023 in Houston, Schultz would have 635 yards on 59 catches and five touchdowns.
Ferguson, as the Cowboys TE1, more than matched Schultz's production in 2023.
Ferguson hauled in 71 catches for 761 yards and five touchdowns. More importantly in 33 games, and 24 starts, over two full season, Ferguson has never fumbled.
In 2023 he was targeted 102 times and averaged 10.7 yards per catch.
His high for the season for receptions in a single game was seven. He did that in two different games.
Against the Patriots in Week 4, he caught all seven targets for 77 yards. Four weeks later, in the loss to the Eagles, he caught seven of 10 targets for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Had he been the target instead of Luke Schoonmaker on that critical fourth down play with 10 minutes left in the game he would have run the route deep enough to score.
Schoonmaker was tackled inches short of the goal line.
In the playoff loss to Green Bay, Ferguson had 10 catches on a dozen targets for 93 yards and three touchdowns.
His first touchdown got Dallas on the board as time expired in the first half. He caught the last two in the last six minutes of the game.
Looking Ahead
Going into his third NFL season Ferguson has secured his hold on the top tight end slot on the depth chart.
Ferguson is signed for 2024 and 2025 and becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2026. His cap hit over the next two years averages about $1 million per year.
If he continues to excel at his current pace, the Cowboys will need to think about extending him and paying him a little more money.
But if he keeps playing like he has, he'll be worth every penny. Either way, tight end is not a position of need for Dallas going into this spring's draft.
So here's hoping Jones Inc. doesn't go reaching for yet another tight end way too early as they did last year.
