Dallas Cowboys Draft: 10 Tight End Prospects and Their Fit

Kahale Warring, San Diego State

What’s Good: Athleticism, Blocking, Hands

What Ain’t Good: Route running

Warring was an intriguing prospect before the combine, but blew only up after his impressive showing in Indy. The Aztec was a multi-sport athlete in high school. (Emphasis on multi) It seems the athletic traits from playing a lot of other sports have really helped his game.

First, this man is explosive. Need him to catch a jump ball, he’s got you. Need him to quickly get down the field, no problem. Need him to lay out a blocker at the line of scrimmage, don’t sweat it.

Second, if your team doesn’t have a good blocking tight end, he is the perfect addition. Not only does he possess upper echelon blocking technique, but also impressive complementary lower body strength. His hand placement can be inconsistent but his lower body strength allows him to win the leverage battle.

Finally, you want a highlight reel of catches, this man has what you need. There are plenty of jump balls, tight window catches, and diving catches to give team chills. Of course, he drops a fair amount of easy completions but let’s just disregard them for the sake of hyping him up.

With all mentioned above, Warring just isn’t as polished of a route runner as Sternberger, Fant, or Hockensen. For how explosive and athletic he is, you’d expect better separation and more broken ankles. Understandably, it can be hard to move weight easily at 252 pounds, but he jumped 36.5″ vertically and 10’2″ horizontally at the combine so it’s not like he is physically incapable of doing so.

Warring makes for a really interesting and prospect and teams will most certainly over draft for his talents. Even with tight end being a position teams don’t show much demand for, he will get drafted higher than his 3-4 round grade.

In the event Warring does fall to the Cowboys, he would make for a far better addition than a previous Aztec who was drafted by the Cowboys in the second round. Unlike Escobar, Warring is a far better blocker even with his highlight reel of catches. The biggest issue for Warring is he simply doesn’t have too much experience playing football.

Granted, he’s played more football than Rico Gathers and is a surprisingly strong blocker, the development at the next level will be crucial for his success. Considering how quickly Schultz and Jarwin developed down the stretch of last season, Nussmeier could have fun with a prospect like Warring and the Cowboys could have themselves a very dominant presence at that position for years to come.