The Dallas Cowboys have a question mark at tight end and a litany of options to answer it. The team was able to rely on the services of Jason Witten for so long, it’s possible the brain trust forgot what its like to search for an answer at the position. After all, there were many attempts to do so during the future Hall of Famer’s 16-year-run in Dallas that never panned out.
Enter Blake “the Belldozer” Bell, part of the 2019 Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, and made not so famous by “Cousin” Sal Iacano’s annual Gary Russell Memorial bet that the tight end’s first reception in that contest would go over 1.5 yards.
The College Years
Bell was a highly recruited quarterback prospect out of Kansas, ranking as the sixth best pro-style quarterback by Rivals. He opted to attend the University of Oklahoma and took a redshirt his freshman season before sitting behind quarterback Landry Jones for two more years.
The time wasn’t a total loss, as Bell was featured in jumbo packages and contributed by running for 24 touchdowns on just 104 carries in his first two seasons of action. He took over as the starting quarterback in Week 3 of his junior season but relinquished the job later in the season before transitioning to tight end his senior year.
He caught just 16 passes his senior campaign, though that was enough to lead his positional group, and finished with four receiving touchdowns, good for second on the team. He played well enough to earn an invite to the East-West Shrine Game and a trip to the NFL Combine which resulted in Bell being a fourth-round selection by the San Francisco 49ers.
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The Pro Years
Bell’s professional career has been nothing to write home about in terms of individual accolades. His most productive season was his rookie year in which he started five games and caught 15 passes. He was waived by the 49ers during the final cuts before the 2017 season began.
His trip to Dallas will mark fifth team in six seasons, never having recorded a regular season touchdown. For those that believe the signing was uninspiring, imagine being part of the Dallas Cowboys media team, who could muster up just one highlight for the entirety of the 2019 season to celebrate the no-risk acquisition.
The Cowboys TE Room
There’s a place for Bell on the Cowboys as only Blake Jarwin is a lock to make the roster. Common sense dictates two additional tight ends will last through final cuts, and no one on the depth chart has the bonafides to guarantee either spot.
Third-year tight end Dalton Schultz’s road to the roster is no cake-walk, such is often the case when the coach that drafts you finds employment elsewhere. But Schultz will be Bell’s primary obstacle, two players whose ability to block outshines their receiving acumen.
The rest of the crew is a hodge-podge of undrafted players. Cole Hikutini caught two passes in his rookie campaign in 2017, and hasn’t played in a meaningful game since. Rookies Sean McKeon out of Michigan and Charlie Taumoepeau out of Portland State make up the rest of the competition.
The biggest issue, however, lies in the Cowboys first-round draft pick. With the addition of WR CeeDee Lamb to Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, it’s hard to see many snap opportunities for a blocking back. Assuming Jarwin soaks up Witten’s snap count, the ones vacated by Jarwin won’t necessarily be doled out to another tight end.
Jarwin saw roughly 38% of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps in 2019, while former WR3 Randall Cobb saw 10% less snaps than Cooper and Gallup. If those snaps go to Lamb, then Bell might only see around 25% of the total offensive snaps. He’ll have to capitalize on limited opportunities.
This is part of our Countdown to the Regular Season player profile countdown. With 79 days remaining until the NFL’s first game, up next is defensive lineman Justin Hamilton.
| Antwaun Woods | Tyrone Crawford | Trysten Hill | Jalen Jelks |
| Dontari Poe | Randy Gregory | Gerald McCoy | Dorance Armstrong |
| L.P. Ladouceur | DeMarcus Lawrence | Blake Jarwin | CeeDee Lamb |
| Cole Hikutini | Dalton Schultz | Noah Brown | Sean McKeon |
| Ventell Bryant | Jon’vea Johnson |