Jake Ferguson went from one of the Cowboys’ easiest building blocks to one of their bigger question marks, and the decline is showing up in all the wrong places.
Dallas leaned on Ferguson almost immediately after he stepped into the starting job in 2023. He gave Dak Prescott a trustworthy outlet, replaced Dalton Schultz at a far lower cost, and brought the kind of energy that made him a natural fit in the offense.
Through his first four seasons, he made two Pro Bowl teams by finding holes in coverage, taking advantage of every catch, and powering through contact with the occasional hurdle mixed in. The Cowboys had a seam-stretching tight end who changed the feel of the offense, and fans embraced him.
That made last July’s four-year, $52 million extension feel like the team locking in a key piece through the 2029 season. But the shine has started to wear off because the mistakes are piling up.
The most obvious issue is the ball not sticking. Through five games this year, Ferguson has a drop rate of 9.5%, a rough number for a player working mostly short-to-intermediate routes.
Thursday night produced the ugliest moment yet: the throw hit him right in the face, bounced up in the air, and a Buccaneers defender was able to settle under it. What should have been a chance to keep a comeback alive turned into a drive-killing mistake.
The problems don’t stop at the catch point. Ferguson has also had real trouble protecting the football after he secures it.
Over the past three seasons, he has fumbled eight times, the most among tight ends in that stretch. That works out to once every 19.6 touches, a pace that stands out for all the wrong reasons.
He also had a costly fumble on a shovel pass against the Baltimore Ravens a couple of weeks ago that wiped out a promising scoring drive. Whether that play should have been ruled incomplete can be argued, but the bigger issue remains the same: Ferguson hasn’t been clean enough with the ball.
Defenses have noticed, too. Opposing coordinators have openly talked about going after him because he tends to carry the ball away from his body, which gives defenders a target. That approach has already paid off.
If Ferguson were giving the Cowboys major value as a blocker, the overall conversation might be easier. He isn’t.
His chip blocks have been ineffective, and he’s been missing assignments in the run game far too often. More and more, he’s getting tossed aside at the point of attack.
Dallas thought it had some of the tight end depth issues under control when it used a second-round pick on Luke Schoonmaker in 2023, but that hasn’t worked out as planned. The team also extended Brevyn Spann-Ford, who brings grit as a blocker and helps on special teams. Now Ferguson’s struggles add another layer of uncertainty, and it raises a fair question about whether his role could change as the season goes on.
If he doesn’t clean it up soon, the Cowboys may be forced into some uncomfortable decisions.
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