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Dallas Cowboys: Jason Witten still important to offense

By Stephen Forsha

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Even though his numbers have dropped the past couple of seasons, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten is still a very important piece of the offense.

Witten, 32, has played 12 seasons with the Cowboys, missing just one regular-season game since 2003, that coming in his rookie season. In 191 career regular-season games, Witten has proven to be the greatest tight end to ever wear the star on his helmet.

Aug 16, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (82) talks with quarterback Tony Romo (9) during the game against the Baltimore Ravens at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Those are big words to say, considering the Cowboys have had some other very good tight ends on their roster in the past, but Witten has just been better. He’s most likely a future Hall of Famer.

For his career, Witten has totaled 943 receptions for 10,502 yards, averaging 11.1 yards per reception. He’s also caught 57 touchdowns, but his numbers the past two seasons have fell off compared to his past feats.

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This past season, Witten caught 64 passes for 703 yards and five touchdowns. The ’13 season saw Witten catch 73 passes for 851 yards and eight touchdowns, the second-best single-season total of his career.

Though his touchdown numbers are steady, his overall yards for a season are what have dropped, but is that really the fault of Witten?

Last season, the Cowboys were committed to the run as DeMarco Murray (now with the Philadelphia Eagles) led the NFL with 1,845 yards rushing and as a team, the Cowboys totaled 2,354 yards on the ground –  second-most in the NFL.

In the receiving game, Dez Bryant led the Cowboys with 88 receptions for 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 15.0 yards per reception.

With all of that said, I still believe Witten is still a very viable and important part of the Cowboys offense.

According to Bryan Broaddus of DallasCowboys.com, Witten “played part in a larger whole.”

"“His commitment and attention to detail have allowed him to continue to play at a high level, even in these final years of a Hall of Fame career. The desire and passion are still there — even though his down field skills might be down a touch. Still finds ways to get open and catch the ball. Has developed new ways to help the team with his blocking …”"

As this above paragraph states…Witten does a lot that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

For starters, he’s the leader of the offense. He’s the heart and soul of the Cowboys, as he never misses a start, and I believe the past couple of seasons have been overlooked by many as others take the headlines.

Even with Witten entering his 13th season with the Cowboys, I believe he won’t regress when it comes to his receiving yards, but in fact, he’ll have his fifth 1,000-yard receiving season.

To do so, he needs more than 73 and 64 receptions in a season (numbers he had the past two seasons, respectively), but he is averaging 11 or more yards per reception in three of the past four seasons.

In ’14 Witten averaged 11.0 yards per reception, but just 43.9 yards per game, which is understandable with the number of times the Cowboys rushed the football last season.

The last time Witten averaged 60 or more yards per game receiving was in ’12 when he averaged 64.9 yards per contest. That also happened to be his last 1,000-plus yard receiving season.

I know Witten blocked more last season, but with the Cowboys’ running game still an unknown at this point of the offseason, my bet is early on, the Cowboys will lean on Mr. Dependable (Witten), and his numbers will improve over last season due to his consistency in the Cowboys’ offense.

Thoughts?

Next: Two later round CB draft possibilities

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