Cowboys' Mike McCarthy explains the complexities behind fighting specific task Jake Ferguson has struggled with
Jake Ferguson is on the rise not only as a fan favorite but as one of the best in the NFL at his position. The Dallas Cowboys tight end took a big leap in Year 2 of his career in 2023, catching 71 passes for 761 and five touchdowns.Expectations for him moving forward are for […]
Jake Ferguson is on the rise not only as a fan favorite but as one of the best in the NFL at his position. The Dallas Cowboys tight end took a big leap in Year 2 of his career in 2023, catching 71 passes for 761 and five touchdowns.
Expectations for him moving forward are for him to leave no doubts and establish himself as an elite tight end. A big part of that will be possible as the Cowboys focus on getting his playing weight right, something Mike McCarthy admitted was a struggle in each of his first two years in the league.
"What should (a player's) weight be?," McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday. "We use various components of information to make an educated decision. The final conversation is with the player to ensure we're on the same page. Jake's a great example—he's had a lot of responsibility in both special teams and tight end. As his tight end position has evolved, we want to be conscientious of the things he's done well early and how much of that is he going to do.
Just really being in touch with the fact that it's a long year, I think he'd be the first to tell you that at the end of the last two years, he played a lot of ball and he struggled to keep his weight up."
The Cowboys putting an added emphasis on Ferguson's weight, as well as with other key players, is an intriguing aspect of the offseason fans don't normally read or hear about. But for the coaching staff, such a process begins months in advance from the regular season.
So much so that McCarthy even mentioned he had a meeting with strength and condititioning coach Harold Nash Jr., in which the staff finalized the target weights for each player for the upcoming season.
"You take all the information from the spring, collecting data on new players, and then you come up with a recommended weight," detailed McCarthy. "Then you sit down and talk to each of them to make sure there's clarity on what their expectation is. Particularly with the young players, now that you see the vision of what their role is going to be, you can explain the difference between, 250 and 255 and why. Because of your particular responsibility, we might give them a ceiling and a floor."
Although McCarthy uses Ferguson and his weight struggles as an example, he admits it's a normal, every year process in which even expected special teams play count factors in, as someone who plays both offense/defense and special teams will burn more calories. Or of course, someone who rarely takes a play off.
As Ferguson continues to gain a bigger and bigger TE1 role, getting the weight formula right should only help him continue to grow as a playmaker.
