Dallas Cowboys: Way too early 53-man roster prediction

Tight End (3)

Jason Witten, Dalton Schultz, Blake Jarwin

Dallas has always kept four tight ends on the roster but that doesn’t happen in this prediction. Instead, they keep the extra receiver and Noah Brown’s ability to block and play in an H-back role keeps the staff comfortable with just three guys at this spot.

The starter will be Jason Witten, although he won’t get the kind of snaps he used to. His age, and time off last season, will come into play. He serves as more of a mentor now and as long as he understands this — and doesn’t demand the ball from Prescott — he will be just fine in that role.

Not drafting a tight end this season says a lot for how they feel about Dalton Schultz. The Stanford product was a fourth-round pick in 2018 and started to come on strong as the season progressed. Another year in the system will do wonders for him and he could be the main tight end by season’s end.

Blake Jarwin had an up and down season in 2018 but capped it off with a three-touchdown performance in Week 17. He’s more of a receiving threat than anything else and should get similar opportunities in 2019 to prove his worth.

The missing name on the list is Rico Gathers, the former Baylor basketball player. Gathers has been a fan favorite but the time has come to move on from this experiment. Then again, if Hurns doesn’t end up making the team, Gathers could be the beneficiary.