One small item that slipped by most everyone's notice during Thursday's OTAs might be more significant than it seemed at the time.
The Cowboys' second round pick in April's NFL Draft, tight end Luke Schoonmaker, was spotted in a walking boot on Thursday. According to a staff report on DallasCowboys.com it was for “minor inflammation in his foot.”
Given he'll be 25 in September, roughly three years older than a normal rookie's age, the injury is concerning. The Cowboys haven't even opened training camp yet and he's already injured.
It doesn't help that tight end really wasn't a position of dire need going into the draft. Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot would likely have gotten the job done.
Cowboys Picked Schoonmaker Over Torrence
But the Cowboys took Schoonmaker in the second round in April. It seemed like a panic pick after four tight ends were selected within the first 42 picks.
The pick looked even worse when Dallas passed over guard O'Cyrus Torrence. That was a position of higher need for the Cowboys than tight end.
Buffalo, which had swooped in during the first round and saved the Cowboys from taking a tight end then, made the Cowboys look even worse by taking Torrence with the very next pick.
The way the second day of the draft played out for the Cowboys didn't look that great back then. It's looking a little worse now.
Injured During Non-Contact OTAs
If Schoonmaker gets nicked up before the OTAs even ended, what's going to happen when they hit training camp? There's no contact during OTAs, yet an injury occurs?
There's going to be plenty of contact once the teams gets out to California in July. The Cowboys' website seems optimistic that he'll be fully recovered by the time camp opens in Oxnard.
But he'll be behind the other four players in the tight end room by the time they get there because he won't be a full participant in mini-camp this week.
He'll have to put in some extra work to catch up. And, like it or not, he'll have a little bit more pressure on him now through no fault of his own.
Bad History With Second-ROund TIght ENds
Because Dallas, since Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson following the 1993 season, has a bad history when drafting tight ends in the second round.
With Jones in full command of draft decisions – he can still override every in the war room when he wants – he has picked five tight ends in the second round.
The picks were: Kendell Watkins (1995), Anthony Fasano (2006), Martellus Bennett (2008), Gavin Escobar (2013), and Schoonmaker.
Watkins played one year in the NFL and caught one pass for eight yards. Fasano played two years in Dallas and caught 28 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown before moving on to Miami.
Bennett and Escobar lasted the longest, each playing for four years in Dallas. Bennett caught 85 passes for 846 yards in 60 games and added four touchdowns.
Escobar managed just 30 catches for 333 yards but did double Bennett's scoring production with eight touchdowns in 62 games.
Schoonmaker Will Have A Low Bar To Clear
Not exactly world-shaking results from Schoonmaker's predecessors. The good news is that it's a low bar for the Michigan alum to clear.
He could fully recover, have a great camp and be a solid starting tight end for Dallas this fall. But if he doesn't?
He'd join an infamous club no one wants to be a part of: The Failed Five Of The Second Round Tight Ends.
And Cowboys fans would likely submit a list of commandments for Dallas and Jones to keep in mind:
- I. Thou Shalt Not Fire The Coach Who Just Won Back-To-Back Super Bowls.
- II. Thou Shalt Not Overpay Players.
- III. Thou Shalt Not Draft A Tight End In The Second Round.
