Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster projection 3.0: Would you rather…

Tight End (4)

Geoff Swaim/Blake Jarwin/Dalton Schultz/Rico Gathers

After going back and forth on this for about three weeks, I finally decided to put Rico Gathers back on the final roster. I’m not even Team Rico here. I’ve been quite critical of the big guy throughout camp, and in a normal situation there’s no way I’m putting him on my team. But this is not a normal situation and I’m not sure I like ANY of the Dallas Cowboys options at TE.

I have to clarify something first – many fans are calling for Garrett and staff to use Rico like the Saints used Jimmy Graham. Many ask, “Graham was/is one-dimensional so why not follow that blueprint and use Rico primarily as pass-catcher and exploit mismatches?”

To which I reply – Rico is not even one-dimensional yet. He may be one day, but he’s not right now. He messes up his routes, runs the wrong patterns, and can’t read coverage correctly. Yes, he makes highlight catches but he’s not a reliable weapon when defenses are scheming against him.

From what’s being said publicly, the Cowboys appear to be done with Rico. But they’ve run a ton of 12 and 13 personnel in camp and in the preseason. They’re going to need a fourth TE if they plan on making tight end such a big part of the offense.

It’s possible Rico makes the team initially while the Dallas Cowboys scour the waiver wire for better options (a run blocking specialist, maybe?)

The three remaining options all have their issues: Rookie Dalton Schultz specifically, looks like he needs a full offseason of weights before he can contribute meaningfully.

But Blake Jarwin is going to surprise some people. Jarwin appears to be a big part of this offense and even if he’s technically the TE2, he’s going to lead this unit in receptions by a pretty wide margin. The Cowboys are lining him up everywhere and he’s even working with receivers coach Sanjay Lal in camp to be used as receiver.