Cowboys Pro Bowler has high hopes for future after 2023 season

The tight end legacy with the Dallas Cowboys is pretty impressive. Recently, Jason Witten made his mark. He’s not only the leading pass-catcher in franchise annals, only Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald, and Tony Gonzalez have totaled more receptions in NFL history.

From Billy Joe DuPree to Doug Cosbie to Jay Novacek, this team has more times than not has had a quality player at the position. Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka spent his final four NFL seasons in Dallas, and caught a touchdown passes from Roger Staubach in the team’s 24-3 victory in Super Bowl VI.

After a mediocre rookie campaign, Jake Ferguson exploded onto the scene in 2024. While All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb led the NFL with 135 catches, the emerging tight end finished second on the club with 71 receptions. It added up to 761 yards and five scores. He was named to the Pro Bowl in his second NFL season, and the best may be yet to come.

Jake Ferguson has some lofty goals in 2024

“To me, I think I’m not even scratching my surface,” said Ferguson to ESPN’s Todd Archer. “There’s so many things that I want to get better at. and I know I can get better at. We watch film every day of different games, even the practices we’re doing now and I’m like, ‘OK, I can get a lot better still.’”

Cowboys’ tight end coach Lunda Wells would like to see Ferguson improve his blocking and perhaps reached the 1,000-yard mark as a receiver. Jason Witten, referencing Bill Parcells, Sean Payton and Tony Sparano, had some other thoughts after the young performer’s breakthrough season.

“They looked at me and said, ‘Great year. But now can you do it again?’” I think that would be the challenge (for Ferguson) to put the work in.”

The 6-foot-5, 244-pound pro came a long way after a rookie season in which he played in 16 games, and was targeted only 22 times. He caught 19 passes for 174 yards and two scores. In last season’s playoff loss to the Packers, Ferguson totaled 10 catches for 93 yards and three touchdowns.

“In this league you can’t be complacent,” added the 25-year-old performer. “You’ve got to just keep going. You’ve got to keep getting better and that’s what I aim to do.”

With the minimal moves made this offseason, the Cowboys will be banking on Ferguson to be even better in 2024. He's confident in his abilities that he could have an even more productive outing than he did last year.