The Dallas Cowboys don’t need a run-blocking TE to replace Jason Witten

The day of the run-blocking tight end has largely passed and finding a TE with that trait is no longer necessary for a team like the Dallas Cowboys

The writing appears to be on the wall for Jason Witten. After stating his intention to return for a 17th season, the Dallas Cowboys did their version of, “ahhh, about that….ummm…..I think my mom’s calling me. Gotta go (although Jerry Jones recently paid him some lip-service)!”

Without Witten, the Dallas Cowboys are without a “complete” tight end capable of doing it all. TE2 Blake Jarwin is the lanky downfield threat but he’s a below-average blocker. TE3 Dalton Schultz grades nicely as a blocker (Pro Football Focus rated him as the best tight end blocker on the team – by a pretty wide margin), but he’s not much of receiving threat.

Deductive reasoning tells us the Dallas Cowboys will be looking for a tight end with a well-rounded skill set in the draft. Someone who is capable of blocking and receiving equally. You know, someone like Witt. But that may not be the way the Cowboys want to go…

Also there an expectation Sean Lee will return in 2020. Jason Witten not so much.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) February 26, 2020

Times are always changing in the NFL and the evolution of the tight end position is no exception. The days of the complete tight end is largely behind us and the day of the downfield threat is upon us. As the league moves to being more pass-happy than ever before, long lean tight ends capable of making plays downfield and adding yards after the catch are an important asset.

Let’s look around the league, shall we? Which tight ends are known for their run-blocking ability?

George Kittle certainly comes to mind. He’s one of the best blocking tight ends we’ve seen in years. The fact that he’s such a great threat downfield only adds to his specialness. But is he the exception to the rule?

Run blocking isn’t as important as it used to be and if Dallas really wants to improve on offense, they should focus on adding another pass-catcher, not another run-blocker.

Looking back at PFF’s grading we see that Dalton Schultz, Dallas’ highest graded tight end blocker, scored a respectable 71.9 in run-blocking. Comparing his run-blocking score to the rest of the NFL, only three tight ends, in PFF’s top-32 tight ends of 2019, scored better (Kittle, Dallas Goedert, and Maxx Williams).

It’s not like Dalton Schultz was that fantastic at run-blocking either. It’s just a trait that isn’t very prevalent in the NFL these days.

In this Golden Age of Play Tracking we can review every single play from the recent past and draw fact-based conclusions. We know rushing success is more dependent on the number of men in the box than it is with just about anything else.

Bringing in an extra run-blocker usually means the defense brings another run-stopper into the box. That’s bad. Lighter personnel packages often spread out defenses which leads to less total players in the box. That’s good. Even when the offense has enough hats to cover every defender – extra men in the box typically means the less fruitful the run.