Dallas Cowboys second round pick Luke Schoonmaker wants to talk to Jason Witten

No NFL team could have loved a player more than the Dallas Cowboys adored Jason Witten, but during his long career that loyalty and devotion did not stop them from drafting eight other guys who played his position.

Three of those players were second round draft picks: Anthony Fasano, Martellus Bennett and the late Gavin Escobar.

Some of these tight ends were drafted to be developmental players who may pan out, and a few were selected specifically to push/beat out Witten. The Cowboys had some decent tight ends in the same room with Witten; not a one of them could supplant the man.

Witten left the Cowboys, for the second time, after the 2019 season and his ghost still exists all over The Star in Frisco.

Near the Cowboys locker room is a giant photo of Witten’s most famous play, when he lost his helmet during a catch and run against the Eagles in Philadelphia in 2007. There are countless other instances when you turn your head and there’s Jason Witten staring back.

The Cowboys tight ends since Witten’s departure have been nice players, but the team has not found another Jason Witten. They haven’t found him because that type of tight end really no longer exists.

The team selected Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, not necessarily to be Jason Witten but no one would whine if somehow he develops into that player.

Give the kid credit; he grew up a Patriots fan, and specifically one of retired tight end Rob Gronkowski, but the man is familiar with Witten, and wants to emulate him.

“I liked watching Gronk’, and recently (San Francisco’s) George Kettle, too,” Schoonmaker said on Friday, after the team’s first rookie mini-camp session. “Even more recently I’ve been watching Witten. Him as a player, of course, he’s spectacular. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer.

“Him as a person, as a teammate. He’s such a leader.”

It would be hard to find a better role model for a tight end than Jason Witten. It would be hard to find a better role model for a pro football player than Jason Witten.

Schoonmaker’s interest in Witten began right around the time he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Probably just a coincidence.

Schoonmaker said he has reached out to Witten, but hasn’t heard back just yet. Schoonmaker wants to pick Witten’s brain.

It would be a shock if Witten didn’t return his call. Witten is currently the head coach at Liberty Christian high school in Argyle, and a loyal ex-Cowboy.

Do not expect Schoonmaker to play like Witten.

When Witten came into the league as a third round pick of the Cowboys in 2003, he had then coach Bill Parcells riding him every time his eyes opened. Parcells’ message/question to Witten was, “Are you going to be one of those candy a--- tight ends like Tony Gonzalez?”

Parcells wanted an extra blocker who could catch passes in the middle of the field. In Witten’s prime, he was a brilliant blocker and reliable pass catcher. Few tight ends in the history of football knew how to get open better than Witten.

He was just never a threat to stretch the field, and turn a 7-yard reception into a 37-yard touchdown.

The tight ends now, much like Tony Gonzalez, are essentially third wide receivers. They are small forwards who can over power defensive backs, and can run by linebackers.

At 6-foot-5, 251 pounds, Schoonmaker fits closer to the dimensions of Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts or San Francisco’s George Kittle; they’re all about 6-foot-5, and hover near 250 pounds.

Witten was 265, and had little problem standing up to linebackers or edge rushers.

A Kelce is an able blocker, as is Kettle, but the priority is to exploit matchups down the field, and run after the catch yards. YAC was never Witten’s thing.

Schoonmaker has their build. So do a lot of other tight ends who aren’t as productive as a Kelce, Pitts or Kittle.

With the Cowboys letting Dalton Schultz go in free agency, Schoonmaker walks into a tight end room where he could quickly be TE1. The Cowboys like second-year tight ends Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot, neither of whom possess Schoonmaker’s abilities.

Coincidentally, every tight end in their group are Big 10 alums; Ferguson is a Wisconsin man, Hendershot attended Indiana; Schoonmaker and reserve Sean McKeon both played at Michigan.

All of these tight ends figure to play some, but there is an opportunity for Schoonmaker to play a lot immediately.

Because it’s Michigan, where running the ball on 4th-and-34 is a viable option, Schoonmaker really didn’t get to show off the receiving skills that the Cowboys believe he has.

“I am excited to showcase that,” he said. “I think it’s something that I can incorporate and show that I can be used in that receiving role.”

That’s why the Cowboys drafted him in the second round. Not to be Jason Witten.

Those guys just aren’t around any more.