According to Jim Nagy, Ferguson has the most natural hands of any prospect in the draft.
Being an elite pass-catching tight end has become a dying art, especially in the NFL. You still have Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, George Kittle and now Kyle Pitts has joined the picture after 2021, but it’s not as deep as in previous generations. A couple of guys that have the chance to make an impact in 2022 are Colorado State’s Trey McBride and Wisconsin’s Jake Ferguson. Jim Nagy believes that Ferguson (6'5"/244) has the most natural hands of any prospects in the draft and has the ability to catch anything. McBride was the one with the stats this season, but Ferguson is on that same level and a team should not be scared to grab him if he’s available. They should both be great Day 2 picks.
SOURCE: Jim Nagy
Feb 19, 2022, 1:06 PM ET
Cowboys selected TE Jake Ferguson with the No. 129 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Ferguson (6'5/250) broke out as a redshirt junior with a 30-305-4 receiving line in seven games. Although his raw stats were fairly unimpressive, Ferguson produced 24% of Wisconsin's receiving yards and 40% of their touchdowns. He wasn't quite as involved as a redshirt senior with a 22% yardage share and 27% touchdown share, but his 2021 campaign did earn him a selection on the first-team All-Big Ten team. Ferguson unfortunately disappointed at the Combine with a 4.81 40, a 31-inch vertical, and a 9-foot-10 broad jump. Projecting as an inline tight end, Ferguson profiles as a reserve who offer fill-in fantasy value in the mold of Tyler Conklin. He offers the Cowboys depth as a rookie and could eventually take over as a starter if the Cowboys don't reach an extension with Dalton Schultz.
Apr 30, 2022, 1:17 PM ET
ESPN's Todd Archer reports Dalton Schultz (knee) "has a PCL issue in his right knee."
Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy said the team won't know about Dalton Schultz's (knee) Week 3 status until closer to game day.
Jake Ferguson caught 4-of-6 targets for 40 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys' Week 6 loss to the Eagles.
The towering rookie tight end showcased his athleticism on his fourth quarter touchdown grab, shaking free of tight coverage on a crossing route with a spry reversal to find the end zone for the first time in his short career. The six targets were the third most on the team on a day backup quarterback Cooper Rush was asked to throw the football 38 times. Fellow rookie tight end Peyton Hendershot added five targets of his own against the lockdown secondary of the Eagles after starting tight end Dalton Schultz was a surprise inactive after being removed from the injury report on Friday. Neither can be counted on for weekly value moving forward.
Oct 17, 2022, 12:49 AM ET
Agreed. I'm scooping him up where I can on the cheapLooks slow, but quick and twitchy in tight space. I'm intrigued. That TD catch and move to the end zone was slick.
Anything to see here with Ferguson? Trying to get a feel for dynasty value. Obviously his value would go up if Schultz leaves in free agency, but how likely do we think that is?
I'd say greater than 50-50 chance Schultz is gone. Its much more important to keep Pollard, and Lamb is due an extension this offseason or next.Anything to see here with Ferguson? Trying to get a feel for dynasty value. Obviously his value would go up if Schultz leaves in free agency, but how likely do we think that is?
I like/own Schultz and I hope he gets a good gig somewhere. Seems impossible to me that the Cowboys would franchise him at $11 million. There's a lot of unknowns in the Cowboys receving game going into next season, but Ferguson feels like he could be a scratch-off lotto winner. Wish I had stashed Hendershot too.I'd say greater than 50-50 chance Schultz is gone. Its much more important to keep Pollard, and Lamb is due an extension this offseason or next.Anything to see here with Ferguson? Trying to get a feel for dynasty value. Obviously his value would go up if Schultz leaves in free agency, but how likely do we think that is?
I like/own Schultz and I hope he gets a good gig somewhere. Seems impossible to me that the Cowboys would franchise him at $11 million. There's a lot of unknowns in the Cowboys receving game going into next season, but Ferguson feels like he could be a scratch-off lotto winner. Wish I had stashed Hendershot too.I'd say greater than 50-50 chance Schultz is gone. Its much more important to keep Pollard, and Lamb is due an extension this offseason or next.Anything to see here with Ferguson? Trying to get a feel for dynasty value. Obviously his value would go up if Schultz leaves in free agency, but how likely do we think that is?
The Athletic's Jon Machota expects Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson to start in 2023.
Dallas moved on from former starter Dalton Schultz, who departed earlier this offseason for Houston. The team drafted rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker in the second round of the NFL Draft but he has missed the majority of organized team activities while tending to a foot injury, leaving the door open for Ferguson to assert control over the starting tight end role. Ferguson started eight games in his rookie season and caught 19 targets for 174 yards and two touchdowns. While the team also moved on from the tight end-friendly scheme of previous offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, the starter in Dallas likely carries fringe fantasy value in 2023 considering the high-powered nature of their offense.
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SOURCE: The Athletic
Jun 17, 2023, 1:16 PM ET
The Athletic’s Jon Machota says Jake Ferguson is “the clear No. 1" TE for the Cowboys.
Rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker was expected to challenge Ferguson for the starting job in training camp, but Schoonmaker has been sidelined as of late as he deals with a plantar fasciitis injury. Ferguson started eight games for the Cowboys last season and finished with a receiving line of 19-174-2. As Machota notes, Ferguson should see a significant uptick in targets with Dalton Schultz now in Houston. Ferguson faces stiff target competition in the form of CeeDee Lamb, Tony Pollard, and Brandin Cooks. Still, he plays a position that offers little fantasy upside and is worth a late-round flyer when you consider Schultz’s back-to-back top-12 fantasy finishes.
Jon Machota
Dak Prescott on Cowboys second-year TE Jake Ferguson: “I think he’s close to becoming a big-time guy. As far as a playmaker, he’s there. Just the way he stepped in and did what was asked of him last year and just the limited amount of reps to the role he’s taking on coming into… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Next Gen Stats
Dak Prescott has averaged 4.0 fewer yards per attempt with Jake Ferguson off the field this season.
Ferguson recorded career-highs in targets (8), receptions (6), and yards (84) when aligned in the slot in Week 9 vs the Eagles.
#DallasCowboys
Factoring in age, I'd be comfortable taking Ferguson around TE5 in a start up, and happily grabbing him everywhere possible around his current ADP of TE10. Schoonmaker's done nothing to make me think it's not Ferguson's job to lose moving foward. And Ferg is Dak's second read on nearly every play, sometimes first in the RZ like Mr. Blonde said. The team and Dak have a history of heavily involving TEs, and they all talk him up every opportunity they get. Considering they started Schultz his entire rookie year, he's doing all this with his first real opportunity at age 24. Maybe it gets recognized more once we hit the offseason, but in dynasty, I'd be looking to buy him everywhere for less than half the price of the flashier names and aging vets. If he can improve his game even more, which I think is very possible considering his age, he could be a top TE for a long time. Likely Dak gets extended too this offseason.I've got a lot of picks at the top of the draft this year, but Ferguson has basically given me a reason to be able to ignore the lure of Brock Bowers.
He's a really good player.
Next Gen Stats
Jake Ferguson totaled 5 receptions for 72 yards and 51 yards after the catch across 8 targets in Week 14 against the Eagles (+22 YAC over expected).
Each of Ferguson’s top 3 career YACOE outputs have come against the Eagles.
#PHIvsDAL | #DallasCowboys
He looked Witten like out there last pm
Ferguson played a vital role in the Cowboys' explosive offense, generating 761 yards on 71 catches (both second on the club behind CeeDee Lamb) to go with five touchdowns. His 40 first downs were seventh-most among all tight ends. The 25-year-old said his Year 2 leap came because of the chemistry built with Prescott during the offseason and practice sessions.
"I think a lot of it became a sort of routine after practice," he said. "If we hit something in practice and maybe I don't connect or I don't catch the ball or it hits off my fingers, or a yard too deep or a yard too shallow, with him after practice and making sure we get it right. Hitting those reps. Making sure that OK, when we get here on Sunday, it's lights out, we don't even have to think about it. And when you start to get that chemistry going, and not only that on the field, but also just the brotherhood that you create with your teammates, that's also very good, and I think that had a really big play in our chemistry this season and it's going to have a lot to do in the future as well."
He’s underrated. A lot of folks are discounting him but I could honestly see him pushing for 950 yards or so this season.I like him as later TE target. Dak has Lamb and Ferguson to throw to. He should see even more targets in 2024. Due to the target situation, I like him better than Njoku. I've got him as TE9. I'll be content with getting him as that.
He’s definitely underrated. Target total should be impressive this season. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he topped 1000 yards.Did anyone else let this guy fall to them and was happy he did? He should have top 5-7 targets for all TE's, correct? Dak used him late in scoring drives as well last year