Heading into the offseason, the Cowboys said they needed to address safety and tight end. They then did very little to fix either position, other than welcome back an old friend. Jason Witten, who spent 2018 calling Monday Night Football games on ESPN, came out of retirement to play for Dallas once again.
While it’s true that No. 82 is going to go down as one of the best to ever play the position, he’s also not the player he once was. He is, however, looking better than he did during his 2017 campaign when he had a career-low 8.9 yards per catch.
In his first six games this season, Witten has 22 receptions on 27 targets with 230 yards (10.5 average) and two touchdowns. He should have had three had it not been for a terrible penalty called that wiped out his score.
As for their second tight end, Blake Jarwin, he has 10 receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown but seems to be on the field less every week. The reason for that is surely due to his blocking as Witten is a better player in this regard.
With that being the case, this coaching staff needs to find someone they can use as a younger receiving threat but not tip the defense off when he’s on the field. That brings up O.J. Howard from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Howard is coming off a 565 yard, five-touchdown season and averaged 16.6 yards per catch in each of his first two seasons. This year, things have been different.
Howard hasn’t been as prominent in Bruce Arians offense, getting just 18 targets so far this season. He’s caught 13 of those for 176 yards and has yet to score a touchdown. The lack of targets has led to speculation that he could be on the block and Dallas should that speculation be true.
Despite his struggles this season, Howard is a player who can block well — as he did while at Alabama — and is able to get deep. He would be a welcome addition to an offense that can use a shot in the arm.