An explosive TE might be the key to unlocking this offense!

[gimmesix]

When did this happen? Schultz and Ferg are receiving TE's.

Some seem to focus only on YPC and not the fact that both of those guys were top five in the league in receptions last year. That's not the definition of a blocking tight end.

 

[gimmesix]

Cowboys only have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd pick until late. They better not burn one of those three picks on a TE.

I'm more a fan of doing what we're doing. I believe we gave big incentives to the two tight ends we brought in as UDFAs, and don't mind us using a late-round pick at the position either to try to replace Schoonmaker, who is heading toward free agency. But we've got a solid starter and should be only hoping that one of these late-round picks proves to be solid depth or (at best) an upgrade to Ferguson. We are not at a point where we need to spend major draft capital to upgrade a starting position that is not a problem.

 

[thunderpimp91]

as long as our OTs are shaky we are going to have to use our TEs to help them out a lot
that is a fact

And since we did pretty well last year with Ferg, I see no reason at this time to do any more.

He did pretty well for what he was asked to do
and lets face it:
UNTIL our OTs are better the TE is NOT going to be a big part of our O

Nothing about the data suggests Ferg is staying in to block any more than other TEs around the league. In fact he has one of the lowest percentage of blocking snaps in the league.

In fact ferg actually set a career high last year for snaps from the slot, over 300.

The ferg issue is that his average yards after catch and yards per route ran have both been in decline ever since his 2023 season.

It’s clear that he’s in physical decline. The question is can he get some of that athleticism back or not. He’s young enough where it’s possible, but regression in back to back years is concerning, and makes his odds of rebounding low.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Have you seen our tackles?
Then you would know why we need blocking TEs.
When we had Smith, we didnt worry about blocking tackles

Smith wasn't perfect but why cant we have one that blocks and can go out and make some plays for us??

 

[cowboyec]

personally,i'd love to see fmr notre dame te michael mayer in this offense.
hopefully the raiders let my people go.

 

[LouBrown]

WE've needed an explosive TE for years!!!! One that can cause match up problems and resemble a WR at times.

I mean every team does. There's less than 10 guys in the league who meet this criteria.

 

[Kwyn]

I’ve been saying this for awhile but usually get shouted down

I was pretty unhappy and vocal about the Ferguson extension. He and Luepke were both done within days of the Parsons trade and were clearly Jerry trying to change the subject. Both were ahead of time, absolutely unnecessary, and overvalued.

I’ll say it. Jake Ferguson is a below average NFL tight end. And he’ll be even worse this year.

Similarly to how Safety is becoming a higher priority around the league as “Spur” and “Star” becomes the player you never take off the field. The new meta for offensives is multiple tight end sets where both TE1 and TE2 are important roles. Right now we have a TE zero

Little referenced stat that I like when checking out tight ends

ADOT: Average Depth of Target.

Hunter Henry: 8.16
Kyle Pitts: 7.36
Travis Kelce: 6.81
George Kittle: 6.67
Trey McBride: 6.66
Terd Ferguson: 4.66

And for any skill position, Total EPA (Total Expected Points Added) is a prime stat.

Total EPA (Total Expected Points Added)
Trey McBride: 107 (1st)
Hunter Henry: 72 (2nd)
Travis Kelce: 71 (3rd)
Kyle Pitts: 68 (4th)
George Kittle: 56 (7th)
Terd Ferguson: 35 (25th)

For those curious about these stats:

ADOT
Pickens: 11.29
Lamb: 11.99

Total EPA
Pickens: 138 (3rd)
Lamb: 85 (16th)

For the future: Jerry is going to screw it up with Pickens, which means we will need to add an elite skill player in the draft. Let’s play out a best case where Fluornoy develops.

Rather than going the WR, let’s go Tight End:

Here’s the guy
Jamari Johnson - Watch this and then picture Terd trying to do anything like that.

Get on the hype train now.

Do you want this?



Or this

 

[Kwyn]

Cowboys the only team that needs everyone on the team to be great just to play well. Meanwhile who is the Seahawks tight end?

AJ Barner

Seahawks offense uses the tight end primarily as a blocker and run a lot of “heavy” packages.

Barners Target share is only 14%

Actual tight ends used in passing games are over 20% and are much more explosive.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Smith wasn't perfect but why cant we have one that blocks and can go out and make some plays for us??

Smith was as close to perfect. Sure HOFer
Leave him on an Island and he took care of it going against the best.

Guyton and Steele on the other hand...

 

[plasticman]

Offense didn't seem locked to me last season. They led the league for more than half a season.

Now, if this dynamic TE can be converted to LB.....

 

[Jarntt]

Hoping for a HR with this kid, but let's first see if he makes the team and then the game day roster before we designate him as the one to unlock our offense that was #2 in the NFL last year...

 

[Pass2Run]

More cow bell, baby!

 

[gtb1943]

Nothing about the data suggests Ferg is staying in to block any more than other TEs around the league. In fact he has one of the lowest percentage of blocking snaps in the league.

In fact ferg actually set a career high last year for snaps from the slot, over 300.

The ferg issue is that his average yards after catch and yards per route ran have both been in decline ever since his 2023 season.

It’s clear that he’s in physical decline. The question is can he get some of that athleticism back or not. He’s young enough where it’s possible, but regression in back to back years is concerning, and makes his odds of rebounding low.

just because you want something to be true does not make it so
You go right ahead and spout meaningless numbers
Watching the critical downs would educate you if you bothered

 

[gtb1943]

I’ve been saying this for awhile but usually get shouted down

I was pretty unhappy and vocal about the Ferguson extension. He and Luepke were both done within days of the Parsons trade and were clearly Jerry trying to change the subject. Both were ahead of time, absolutely unnecessary, and overvalued.

I’ll say it. Jake Ferguson is a below average NFL tight end. And he’ll be even worse this year.

Similarly to how Safety is becoming a higher priority around the league as “Spur” and “Star” becomes the player you never take off the field. The new meta for offensives is multiple tight end sets where both TE1 and TE2 are important roles. Right now we have a TE zero

Little referenced stat that I like when checking out tight ends

ADOT: Average Depth of Target.

Hunter Henry: 8.16
Kyle Pitts: 7.36
Travis Kelce: 6.81
George Kittle: 6.67
Trey McBride: 6.66
Terd Ferguson: 4.66

And for any skill position, Total EPA (Total Expected Points Added) is a prime stat.

Total EPA (Total Expected Points Added)
Trey McBride: 107 (1st)
Hunter Henry: 72 (2nd)
Travis Kelce: 71 (3rd)
Kyle Pitts: 68 (4th)
George Kittle: 56 (7th)
Terd Ferguson: 35 (25th)

For those curious about these stats:

ADOT
Pickens: 11.29
Lamb: 11.99

Total EPA
Pickens: 138 (3rd)
Lamb: 85 (16th)

For the future: Jerry is going to screw it up with Pickens, which means we will need to add an elite skill player in the draft. Let’s play out a best case where Fluornoy develops.

Rather than going the WR, let’s go Tight End:

Here’s the guy
Jamari Johnson - Watch this and then picture Terd trying to do anything like that.

Get on the hype train now.

Do you want this?



Or this

so speaks someone ignorant of a thing called PLAY CALLING AND DESIGN

 

[Kwyn]

so speaks someone ignorant of a thing called PLAY CALLING AND DESIGN

I make a thoughtful, researched and detailed comment.

You spout off your typical random nonsense that no one understands, including yourself.

Do better or be quiet

 

[big dog cowboy]

I'm more a fan of doing what we're doing. I believe we gave big incentives to the two tight ends we brought in as UDFAs, and don't mind us using a late-round pick at the position either to try to replace Schoonmaker, who is heading toward free agency. But we've got a solid starter and should be only hoping that one of these late-round picks proves to be solid depth or (at best) an upgrade to Ferguson. We are not at a point where we need to spend major draft capital to upgrade a starting position that is not a problem.

Exactly right. Last year the Cowboys offense wasn't missing a McBride type TE.

 

[thunderpimp91]

just because you want something to be true does not make it so
You go right ahead and spout meaningless numbers
Watching the critical downs would educate you if you bothered

Yes how dare I use data and factual evidence to support my position. Let’s go away from using numbers and just go by feelings. Heck let’s stop keeping score of the games and just determine a winner by who we think should win.

Jake Ferguson stayed in to block on 6% of passing snaps last year. That’s an extremely low rate. Yeah I’m sure he did a lot of chip and release snaps but most TEs do.

I like ferg. He’s easy to root for and always brought a toughness to the field you like to see. Truth is though that the guy has not played very good football since 2023.

 

[Kwyn]

Yes how dare I use data and factual evidence to support my position. Let’s go away from using numbers and just go by feelings. Heck let’s stop keeping score of the games and just determine a winner by who we think should win.

Jake Ferguson stayed in to block on 6% of passing snaps last year. That’s an extremely low rate. Yeah I’m sure he did a lot of chip and release snaps but most TEs do.

I like ferg. He’s easy to root for and always brought a toughness to the field you like to see. Truth is though that the guy has not played very good football since 2023.

Problem: Need an excuse for Fergusons poor play

Solution: Make up something that would be difficult to disprove, especially since I assume they are lazy like me

Outcome: Dangit, someone did research it and I look like an idiot

Plan B: Make baseless personal attacks

Outcome B: Ignore further comments about the topic but continue to make insults

 

[Pokes12]

Last season Ferguson had a strong season number size, but when you look under the hood, his success was more due to teams worried about our top two receivers. I read recently the Cowboy Offense faced the most shell coverage in the entire league last season. Their goal was to take away the explosive passing plays that the Cowboys offense generates. This allowed Ferguson to feast on all the underneath check down passes. As we know he run after catch has disappeared and looks like the old Witten at the position.

One of the biggest issue I saw with Ferguson was his inability to make those up the seam pass connections. Dak tried over and over again trying to connect with Ferguson but they rarely were successful. This was a huge part of Dak's success with former Cowboy Dalton Shultz.

I don't think Ferguson's job is in trouble as he still serves a purpose in this offense, but the team needs that explosive TE to unlock their offense to new levels. Schoon has proven not to be that guy and is most likley playing somewhere else next season. Spann-Ford is also in his contract season, but his calling card is more as an in line blocker. Could Trigg become that X factor at the position? It is a long shot being an undrafted fa, but he has an opportunity. This might be a sneaky draft need in the team's future.

We had Tyler Warren and opted for Booker. Big mistake. Warren is the perfect athletic TE we needed. Ferguson is a JAG. He had the lowest YPC of any tight end. I would not care if he were released. He is. He. Is a nonfactor. Luepke would be a better TE. I am still upset Jethro passed on Warren. Reminiscent of passing on Moss.

 

[Chasing6]

WE've needed an explosive TE for years!!!! One that can cause match up problems and resemble a WR at times. All we seem to focus on is a TE being able to block and nothing more!!!

We need a tweener.