McCarthy: Cowboys' Jake Ferguson "having a great offseason"

What It Means

McCarthy added that Ferguson has shined in his conditioning work, while Ferguson himself claimed to working on becoming a "complete" tight end in the vein of former Cowboys great Jason Witten.

Ferguson enjoyed a breakout 2023 campaign after former teammate Dalton Schultz signed with the Houston Texans in free agency, catching 71 passes for 761 yards and 5 scores as the team's top tight end. As he and several other teammates reportedly pointed out, he'll have a chance to step into an even more prominent role in the offense after both WR3 Michael Gallup and RB1 Tony Pollard departed in free agency.

Our model projects the third-year tight end to be this year's TE8, with 147.9 FanDuel points by the season's end. Even if he only sees marginal growth in his target share, he did stake a role as one of quarterback Dak Prescott's top red zone targets, finishing fifth in the NFL in red zone targets (23). His touchdown upside should keep him locked in as a solid tight end play in the 2024 season.