attended the workout last week of Stanford's Coby Fleener, considered the top tight end in the draft. Now I'm not sayin' ...
But if the Cowboys are playing the what if game along with us, then this guy's name is coming up. He measures 6-6, 247 pounds and ran a 4.5-second 40 at his Pro Day. Not only that, the Cardinal tight end had a 37-inch vertical. Of his 34 catches last year for Stanford, 10 went for touchdowns.
Does it make you drool to think of Witten on one side and Fleener on the other? Sort of what New England does with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez? And look what a Jimmy Graham did for the Saints this past year? Shockey Who?
This is exactly what the Cowboys envisioned when taking Bennett with a second-round pick in 2008. Double-barrel tight end action. Problem was Bennett never flourished to that point.
Have you two of those, and who needs a third receiver – unless one of your top two gets hurt. But a third receiver, heck, you can find one of those in the third round maybe. Or in free agency once another round of cuts takes place after the draft and then again the end of August when rosters are trimmed to 53. That's when the Cowboys signed Robinson, and a darned good thing they did. Can lightning strike twice?
If you are wondering what the Cowboys think, just look at what they earnestly tried to do in free agency. They didn't bring in a veteran receiver for a visit. Nope, they brought in a tight end, Chicago's Kellen Davis, and tried to sign him on the spot. Davis, though, decided to re-sign with the Bears.
And truth be known, the Cowboys gladly would have re-signed Bennett to the same one-year deal ($2.5 million) he signed with the Giants, but Bennett didn't even give them a chance, knowing he'd at least get an opportunity to compete for a starting job in New York.
Priorities, priorities.
Now, I'm not saying a second tight end is the Cowboys' top priority. But as productive as Witten has been, and ya'll knowing he's been a huge security blanket for Tony Romo, don't scoff, summarily dismissing the notion of drafting a tight end in the first couple of rounds.
OK, maybe not with the first-round pick. Then again, what if ...
But you get the idea, don't you? If a pressure-producing defensive player is 1A on the Cowboys' draft priority board, then the backup tight end has to at least be in the next conversation or two if a good one who fits this specific role is available.
Like I said, food for thought with the draft now just 27 days away ... and counting.
