Tight end Dalton Schultz is among the more polarizing of the Cowboys’ players right now. Despite a significant chunk of the fanbase calling for him to be summarily discarded because of a perception that he’s a poor blocker, the team secured his services for 2022 (at least) with a $10.9 million franchise tag handed down in March.
For now, anyway, the front office is paying Schultz like a Top-5 tight end. And one national outlet now says he’s playing pretty darn close to that level.
Pro Football Focus has released its rankings for the best tight ends in the game, and the 25-year-old Stanford product comes in at No. 8. That’s good enough to place him in the second tier at the position, a grouping described as “having Tier 1 capabilities, but either lack consistency or have slipped.”
The only other tight end in the same tier? Rob Gronkowski, at No. 7. (You don’t need a secret decoder ring to figure out which of the two has “slipped” and which one is still looking to prove consistency.)
Of the 2018 fourth-round draft pick, PFF says:
“Schultz was a bit of a surprise breakout in 2021, considering the Cowboys utilized him solely as a blocker in his first two NFL seasons and he was underwhelming when being integrated into the passing game in 2020. The 2018 fourth-round pick took his 63.8 receiving grade in 2020 to 77.4 in 2021, and while he isn’t going to shred single coverage like some of the Tier 1 guys, he can work soft spots against zone coverage and possesses strong hands. He finished top six last year in both drop rate (3.4%) and contested catch rate (63.2%, 12-of-19).”
His numbers last season had Schultz finishing third among tight ends in receptions and sixth in receiving yards.
More than most other positions, consistency counts for a tight end. That may be even more true in Dallas than other places, given a Cowboys’ history marked with long-tenured names like Billy Joe DuPree, Doug Cosbie, Jay Novacek, and Jason Witten.
That is not to say that Schultz has put himself in the class of those all-time greats quite yet. But his 2021 numbers- career highs in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns- indicate he’s definitely on the upswing. And the Cowboys’ propensity for utilizing double-tight ends makes him even more valuable now that Blake Jarwin is gone.
Behind him, there’s Sean McKeon, Jeremy Sprinkle, and Ian Bunting. And two rookies: a draft pick and an undrafted free agent.
Franchise tag or not, Schultz is worth retaining, for at least one more season.
The Cowboys have until July 15 to negotiate a new contract with Schultz to lock him in for even longer (and make a big financial hit more palatable).
For what it’s worth, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News suggests that there doesn’t seem to be any urgency from the front office in getting it done.
“I let my agent handle all that business and right now I’m just focused on OTAs,” Schultz said last week.
If it doesn’t happen and the franchise tag sticks, the Utah native will, at the least, play out this season in Dallas as a very well-paid tight end.
The rankings say he’s worth it.
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