All this hully baloo about why Witten came back from the booth to play for us again is so elementary.
People complain he is over the hill,etc.
Nonsense.
Do they not realize he is being groomed as a future assistant coach for TEs after he retires?
Do they not know Sean Lee is being handled the same way in his final year here?
He will be a LBer coach for us.
Both will probably return next year as assistant coaches.
No doubt they have been told this and they have been told to pay attention to their position coaches this season to prepare themselves.
I am all for this.
Garrett and the FO are obviously happy with their progress of former players being coaches like Columbo and Lett and others.
I remember very well Landry taking Ditka and Reeves as assistant coaches and them succeeding in the league themselves.
Also add Jack Del Rio, Ken Norton, Jr and Everson Walls as assistant coaches as former Cowboy players and it's nice to see the influence our franchise has and continues to have.
Of course just look at the broadcast booth for more..Aikman, Jimster, Woody, Moose, Romo, etc.
And Moose did a great job as GM of the recently folded San Antonio Commanders in the AFF.
Like to see us hire him for the FO in some capacity. He was excellent here in SA.
Comments from the peanut gallery?
Simply having them to groom the other guys *this year* is big.
Schultz seems like the same kind of balanced blocker/receiver as Witten. He's our top TE pick, and he's the guy who should be modeling himself after Witten.
But much bigger is having Lee available for another year of development of LVE and Jaylon. Investing in some coaching from Lee this year for those guys is cap well spent.
And I don't see why people are dismissing what they can bring on the field.
Lee had a bad season last year, but the upside on him is huge if he can get his body right. Even if he's just an average player himself, simply getting his brain on the field is a bump for the defense. Is there any LB in the league you'd rather have making on the field, on the fly pre snap adjustments? Is there anyone who seriously would prefer Damien Wilson as our 3rd? Normally we really cheap out on out 3rd LB. Now we've got Lee.
I'm pumped about the upside for a LVE, Smith, Lee LB trio. It could be incredible if Lee is back to being basically healthy, though physically not the All Pro he was in 2016. There's a long way to drop from being an All Pro.
As for Witten, he feels a little overpriced to me, but really, compared vs. our usual free agent veteran bridge players, he's better.
Also, Linehan was just killing Witten with the stick routes. Witten from a standing start, with his back facing downfield, is not destined for a big gain. Watching a Kellen Moore video, the middle routes tended to slant downfield. I expect the Y Option to make a comeback. I bet Witten's yards per reception go back above 10. Maybe 11. And his catch rate has always been good, and remained so with Dak. We needed to replace Beasley's productions for 3rd down conversions in the middle of the field, and Witten and Cobb should be great for that.
In 2018, I figured Witten had 3 more years in him, easy. Maybe 5. He gave up his step long ago, and has always been tank. The glide path for TEs like him is very gentle. I bet Gonzales could still be playing in his 40s.