News: BTB: Bigger impact for the Cowboys in 2019, Jason Witten or Randall Cobb?

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Two vets, on one football team, who will have the bigger impact?

During free agency, the Cowboys reeled in two receiving veterans. One is a legendary Cowboys tight end who is returning after a year in the broadcast booth. The other is from a rival team who played with one of the greatest quarterbacks of this generation. Jason Witten and Randall Cobb will now line up for the Cowboys and will do most of their work over the middle of the field. Witten is famous for the Y-option and has a long history in this Cowboys offense and a couple of years experience playing with Dak Prescott. Randall Cobb has done amazing work turning short catches into long plays and should step into the starting slot role.

At the end of the year, which player will have had the greater impact?

There are pros and cons for both. Let’s first look at it from a statistical basis.

In the last two years that Jason Witten played, he averaged 66 receptions, 617 yards and four touchdowns per season.

In the last two years* that Randall Cobb played, he averaged 63 receptions, 632 yards and four touchdowns per season. *We used the 2016, 2017 seasons for Cobb since 2018 was washed out by injury.

As you can see, their statistical output is pretty even, and both players have been on a decline in output for a while. Cobb actually does better on a per game basis because while Witten’s stats are for a full 16 game season in each of those two years, Cobb only played in 15 and 13 games those two years. Durability is a part of the argument as we head into the pros and cons of each.

Pros and Cons for Witten


Pros - Jason Witten is durable. He’s famously only missed one game in his entire career. He also has past experience with Dak Prescott to rely on, and he is fully versed in the Cowboys offense. There will be no learning curve for him going into the 2019 season. Even though he’s slowed down considerably, he is still very capable of finding the soft spots in the coverage and providing a security blanket for Prescott. He will also add some punch as a blocker in the run game.

Cons - The Cowboys have said they are going to try and limit his snaps. He will be competing with younger tight ends who the Cowboys will want to get into the mix so they can further evaluate them. Witten is coming off a year of not playing football and at his age the rust could really show. He is not going to provide any real YAC past the initial catch of the ball.

Pros and Cons for Cobb


Pros - He is more explosive than Witten and can turn a short catch into a big gain. As the new slot receiver he should get plenty of targets (Beasley got 87 last year). Cobb’s game is more varied, the Cowboys could use him in a variety of ways, including on screens or handing him the ball on occasion.

Cons - Cobb hasn't played a full season since 2015 and last year only managed to play half the games. His numbers could be inflated by playing with Aaron Rodgers and more of a passing offense than he will see in Dallas. He will be learning a new offense and a new quarterback which could slow his early production. The Cowboys have some other top quality receivers on offense to take some of his opportunities.

Over to you BTB. Which player will have a bigger impact on the 2019 season?

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