Dallas Cowboys: Blake Jarwin does what team does best

The Dallas Cowboys need to fill a Jason Witten shaped void in their offense. Could Blake Jarwin be a part of the solution?

The Dallas Cowboys are the old school running football team in a changing NFL. The new NFL is all about hybrid players who can play multiple positions. It is about guys who can catch and run while lining up in the back field, split out wide or in-line as a blocker. So far, the Cowboys have resisted the trend of hybrid players that teams call tight ends while the players refer to themselves as wide receivers.

Cowboys fans should not expect this to change any time soon. The Dallas Cowboys run the football. They built the offense to run the football. With so many assets thrown at the offensive line along with the running back position, the Cowboys have defined their offense. Other pieces will have to fit the offense because the Cowboys will not change the offense to accommodate a hybrid player.

When Jason Witten retired, the questions about who will play tight end immediately arose. Along with those questions came all sorts of answers.

The hot and popular name that emerged was Rico Gathers. Cowboys fans may recall that Gathers was a basketball player in college. He attended Baylor University where he played forward on the basketball team. He spent two years (one injured) learning the NFL game on the Cowboys roster.

It should come as no surprise to see Gathers comfortable in space and great hands. If the new NFL is starting to copy college football’s basketball on grass, then Gathers fits right in. Gathers is that hybrid tight end (or big slot receiver) that lines up in the backfield, in-line and spread out as a receiver.

With the Cowboys already employing an RPO package in red zone situations, there is definitely a place on the team for Gathers. He is a big body who can win the jump ball with great hands. If the Cowboys were looking to replace Dez Bryant, their best on the roster option would be Gathers.

But Gathers is not best option to fill the role of Jason Witten. Witten was an excellent blocker. His blocking in zone and power schemes was one of the reasons for the longevity of his career. To fill his shoes, the Cowboys will need a true tight end (in the old school sense of the name) that can block first and catch enough passes to remain a threat.

The person who best fits that description is Blake Jarwin. Who? Blake Jarwin. Jarwin was an undrafted free agent in 2016 from Oklahoma State. He spent most of the 2016 season on the practice squad. He stayed there until the Philadelphia Eagles tried to sign him to their roster. Rather than give up Jarwin, the Cowboys cut Kellen Moore and promoted him to the 53 man roster.

Per a report from CBSSports.com, it is Jarwin, not Gathers, that has caught the attention of the staff. He is projected to get a majority of the snaps at the tight end position in OTAs and minicamps. Which begs the question, what sets Jarwin apart from the others?

The answer is simple. Jarwin does what the Dallas Cowboys do best. He blocks. The Cowboys run an old school 1990s style zone run offense supplemented with play action passes. That style of an offense needs a tight end who can hold his own in the run game. If that tight end can catch passes, great! If not, it is not essential to the position. The Cowboys can always bring in a receiver or Gathers in obvious passing situations.

Coming out of college, Jarwin played the “Cowboy” position as a hybrid tight end/receiver/full back. But unlike most of the people who played that position, he could block at the first and second levels. Lance Zierlein’s scouting report for NFL.com describes a player who can block but needs refinement. Jarwin is a player who can catch but lacks superior athleticism to be a consistent vertical threat. Zierlein postulates that with added muscle he could become a starter as an in-line blocking tight end in the NFL.

The year Jarwin has spent with the Cowboys may have been all he needed to develop as a in-line blocker. Combine the ability to block (which should never be underestimated) with an average ability as a receiver and Blake Jarwin sounds exactly like what the Cowboys need to run the football and throw play action passes.

Next: Cowboys must expand RPO arsenal

Blake Jarwin will be the man to play tight end next season for the Cowboys. He fits what the Cowboys do best because it is what he does best. The Cowboys need a tight end who can block first and catch passes second. That is exactly what Blake Jarwin does. With Jarwin at tight end, the Cowboys run game should be in safe hands.