Turner: Did Cowboys find another gem in tight end Dalton Schultz?

Cotton

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Did Cowboys find another gem in tight end Dalton Schultz?





By Kevin Turner May 7, 2018


Last Thursday was an emotional day, as Jason Witten officially hung up his cleats. After a nearly hour-long press conference at The Star, you couldn’t help but try to relive some Cowboys’ successes and failures over the past 15 years. I had to remind myself that there’s a significant portion of the Cowboys fanbase that can’t even remember a time where Witten wasn’t on the roster. These are strange days.

We’ve talked a lot about the wide receiver group needing to replace Dez Bryant’s production. Now we can move on to the tight ends, and one specific player in the group who will have a chance to compete for the starting job.

I legitimately liked what I saw in Schultz’s game tape. I also didn’t find anything that made him stand out. If you saw me on the street, perhaps at a street taco stand, and said, “Hey KT, what’s the one-word scouting report on that Stanford tight end the Cowboys drafted?” I would respond with the word “solid”. He’s solid. That’s it.

I can prove it.

Before we get to the clips let’s look at his measurables. Schultz is 6’5” and 244lbs. The chart below gives you a look at some of the more specific details of his build. Make note of his short arms, which could make a difference in blocking and receiving. Also note the very solid 3-cone drill, which shows that he’s got some short area quickness.



Stanford used a run-first offense, and Schultz only caught 55 passes in three years. As a form of reference (and for fun) fellow Cardinal Zack Ertz made 112 catches in his 3 seasons.
Coby Fleener caught 96 in four years, never totaling more than 34. Those are just a couple examples, but it shows how playing in the Stanford offense depresses receiving numbers.

With that in mind, let’s begin by evaluating Schultz’s blocking. That’s where he will make a larger impact for the Cowboys – at least in the early stages of his career.

I wanted to highlight this clip against Oregon to show you Schultz’s demeanor. So much of that is important when it comes to blocking. I think this clip shows his mean streak. I realize he’s blocking a lighter defender here, but getting to the second level and blocking in space is impressive in its own right.



This is the same type of thing, but with a focus on his excellent body control in hitting his target point. If Schultz doesn’t make this block on the linebacker, the play is busted. Schultz seals off the edge for Heisman nominee Bryce Love and makes it look easy.



Cowboys fans have seen Witten make this type of block hundreds of times in his illustrious career. This one came against Washington State. At the point of attack Schultz widens out and gets to the defender in time to seal off the edge.



To wrap up the blocking portion of our clip show, I wanted to show this just because I love when players sacrifice for their team. It’s a simple block, the pass-rusher is coming right at him, but he gets in position, sets his feet and is willing to take on the blocker.



Let’s turn our attention to Schultz’s receiving skills.

Here’s another clip from Stanford’s 2017 game against Oregon. Schultz doesn’t get the ball here but you can get an idea of how he’d look running a Cowboys type of route. This one is a Witten trademark. Schultz gets open by quickly changing directions back to the inside.



I know much has been made about Schultz’s lack of production, but I’m pleased to report that in the games I studied on tape, he was open quite a bit and just didn’t get the ball delivered to him. Yes, Stanford utilizes a run-first offense, but Schultz was open enough to get more targets than he did.

He had at least one catch in all eleven games last year but never had more than three in a single game. At least he’s consistent.

In this clip against Oregon State, Schultz is the in-line tight end at the top of the formation. He runs a basic drag route, but you can see that he’s a little faster than he gets credit for.
He also shows off his football IQ and comfort playing in space. Notice how he makes the route a little more shallow in order to gain separation from the linebacker. He easily makes the catch and shows a little bit of speed in picking up the first down.



I’m very aware that these clips don’t really show Schultz doing anything down the field. It’s not that Schultz can’t add that to his arsenal, I absolutely think he can. It’s just not something he was asked to do very often at Stanford.

This play highlights his game smarts, toughness, and reliability. It took place on a 4th and 6 against UCLA. Stanford was up by 10 and on the verge of putting the game away. They needed this conversion. Schultz makes the catch in traffic, but short of the first down marker. He knows exactly where the chains are and does everything in his power to convert the first down.



Here’s another snap from the UCLA game. This time we see his concentration on display as he’s wide open in the end zone but the QB makes a horrible throw.



Lastly, here’s a play against TCU in which he doesn’t get the ball – even though he should have. Schultz was in the slot, fires off the line and gets inside leverage by pushing his defender towards the hash. This is the type of play that really gives me high hopes for Schultz. If he’s not respected early on as a receiving threat, he has enough juice to separate from linebackers.


STRENGTHS

  • TOUGHNESS: Schultz is a finisher. You can tell he takes great pride in blocking, and he should continue to improve in that area if he can get a little bit stronger.
  • BODY CONTROL: Does a great job of not overrunning blocks, keeping his body in control and hitting his target spots.
  • RELIABLE HANDS: Schultz can be counted on immediately in the passing game, and has the ability to succeed over the middle in traffic.
  • ROUTE RUNNING: Can run a number of different routes, understanding how to get separation.


WEAKNESSES

  • EXPLOSIVENESS: Schultz is not a big-play receiver.
  • STRENGTH: Schultz needs to be a little bit stronger in order to sustain his blocks longer.
  • PRODUCTION: 55 catches in 3 seasons. Yeah, it’s not entirely fair, but it doesn’t measure up favorably to other prospects.


I had a fourth-round grade on Dalton Schultz. I love the value of the pick, as the Cowboys weren’t interested in Dallas Goedert who went 49th to Philadelphia. Mike Gesicki was a solid prospect but more of a big wide receiver than a tight end. Mark Andrews went in the third round but he’s not really interested in blocking. Ian Thomas from Indiana is a name I liked, but he’s more of a developmental piece at this point.

For what the Cowboys are trying to do on offense, Dalton Schultz is the perfect fit. I realize the pick was not sexy, but aside from Dak, very few late fourth-round picks are.

Schultz will compete for the starting job immediately and his primary role will be to block. I know we live in a world where people want immediate answers, but that’s just not realistic right now. While Jason Witten’s retirement wasn’t ideal for this offense, it could have some benefits too. Will we see more 4-WR sets with the TE off the field? I know I’d support that. This offense will be faster with Witten gone (and Dez wasn’t exactly a burner, either).

The Cowboys like Blake Jarwin, but he’s primarily a blocking tight end. They also like Geoff Swaim but he’s also a blocker first. They have Rico Gathers just in case he can turn his size and athleticism into something.

Adding Dalton Schultz at the end of the fourth round was just another fantastic pick in the 2018 draft for the Dallas Cowboys.
 

Cotton

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It's really nice to see how well he can block. Hopefully, this kid turns out to be a starter for us.
 

lostxn

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Meh. We'll be drafting a TE in the 1st or 2nd round next year unless Rico goes off.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Meh. We'll be drafting a TE in the 1st or 2nd round next year unless Rico goes off.
Yeah notice how its, great blocker not a vertical threat. Great blocker, primarily a blocker.

The only one who has any ability to actually make a defense stop and think is Rico Gathers. He's actually a guy that a defense is going to have to pay some attention to as a receiver because his size and athletic ability is going to make him a dangerous weapon. So yeah at this point it's Rico or high draft pick next year in my opinion. I'd absolutely love it if Schultz showed me he is more than just a blocker. But nothing in those videos made me feel better about his ability to actually make our passing game better.
 

Chocolate Lab

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What I noticed was during the NFLN/Fox coverage, they said Shaw claimed Schultz didn't have a bigger role because he had two underclassmen TEs who were so talented. So if he's not superior to or even as good as two other TEs on Stanford's team, I doubt he's anything great as a pro. Maybe he can be a serviceable, dependable type, though.

Really kind of felt like the team was grasping to replace Witten with a well-coached guy who could play right away even if he didn't have much upside, which I'm not a big fan of.
 

lostxn

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What I noticed was during the NFLN/Fox coverage, they said Shaw claimed Schultz didn't have a bigger role because he had two underclassmen TEs who were so talented. So if he's not superior to or even as good as two other TEs on Stanford's team, I doubt he's anything great as a pro. Maybe he can be a serviceable, dependable type, though.

Really kind of felt like the team was grasping to replace Witten with a well-coached guy who could play right away even if he didn't have much upside, which I'm not a big fan of.
I think we just had bigger needs. I am fully on with Williams over Goedert (not that we even had that choice). Everything after that was a piece you would want to upgrade anyway. I think this was a reasonable choice. It just isn't a longterm solution as a starter.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I think we just had bigger needs. I am fully on with Williams over Goedert (not that we even had that choice). Everything after that was a piece you would want to upgrade anyway. I think this was a reasonable choice. It just isn't a longterm solution as a starter.
Yeah a choice between those two would have been difficult for me. Both I think have the potential to be high end starters. Both fit a big need for us. To me they were both borderline first round guys. So if you get them in the middle to late second round it's an excellent pick.

I do think Dallas was looking for a TE that can block. I think they value that over athletic ability at TE. Sort of the old school Bill Parcells TE. Witten was never an explosive guy and definitely wasn't in his later years. So I think the priority was more about blocking and less about big play ability. Otherwise I think Fumagali would have been a better choice later in the draft.
 

Simpleton

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What I noticed was during the NFLN/Fox coverage, they said Shaw claimed Schultz didn't have a bigger role because he had two underclassmen TEs who were so talented. So if he's not superior to or even as good as two other TEs on Stanford's team, I doubt he's anything great as a pro. Maybe he can be a serviceable, dependable type, though.

Really kind of felt like the team was grasping to replace Witten with a well-coached guy who could play right away even if he didn't have much upside, which I'm not a big fan of.
Kaden Smith is nice, will probably be in the conversation for us in the next 1-2 years.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Kaden Smith is nice, will probably be in the conversation for us in the next 1-2 years.
Yeah I think it's great that they have 2 excellent talents at TE coming up but it kind of speaks to Schultz's talent if the coach is basically saying he isn't in that category of talent.
 

Chocolate Lab

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fortsbest

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Sadly, there were no Jason Witten clones to be had here and unless a Stanford or like minded team develops one, there won't be for a long time. Since we know that this team is going to be run first and likely 4 wide quite a bit, I bet he develops fine into a safety blanket TE which is what they want him to be. It'll be run, get it to 1 of the 3 wideouts, or check down to the TE. He'll be fine for that. Sadly, I think that's all we can expect from this coaching staff anyway. When they go away and a new staff comes in maybe we can hope for some originality and the need for a more offensive minded TE.
 

Simpleton

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Noah Fant.

Explosive downfield target coming from a pro-style offense so you know blocking won't be completely foreign to him.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Noah Fant.

Explosive downfield target coming from a pro-style offense so you know blocking won't be completely foreign to him.
Yep, he is the most athletic TE I've seen in Iowa in a really long time. An extremely talented guy. I'd love to have him.

That's saying something too since Iowa has produced a number of NFL TE's. Honestly he is the best we have had since Dallas Clark. And even Dallas Clark he may be more physically gifted than.
 
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ravidubey

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No one will ever step in and be another Jason Witten.

But they can still be damned productive in this offense.
 
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