Jason Witten

                          RUSHING                            RECEIVING                            FANTASY

(+) Has played in eight straight 16-game seasons… he's never injured

(+) Ended up as the 6th-ranked TE last year

(+) The Cowboys should have their best offensive season since moving into the new stadium

(+) His TE competition, Martellus Bennett, is now on the NY Giants while another guy who stole a bunch of his potential targets, Laurent Robinson, is on the Jaguars

(+) The arrival of DeMarco Murray benefits Witten more than any other receiver on the Cowboys due to his being able to draw linebackers out of coverage

(+) As we all know, Witten happens to be best friends with the guy throwing him the ball (Tony Romo)

(–) After two straight 94-catch seasons, he fell off by nearly a catch per game down to 79 last year

(–) Witten isn't getting any younger and is now on the wrong side of 30 and the downside of his career

(–) With talents like Miles Austin and Dez Bryant at WR, it's tough to demand the ball/targets

2009 was kind of a crazy year for Mr. Witten.  He had the second most catches in his seven-year career (94), the second most yards as well (1,030), yet had the second least amount of touchdowns (2) and the second lowest yards/reception (11.0) despite hauling in the longest catch of his career (69 yards).  We’re not entirely sure how to explain these anomalies, but it wouldn’t be farfetched to chalk it up to simple bad luck.  For a tight end, numbers like those normally translate into a top 3-5 fantasy ranking, but the lack of TDs and the rise of the TE position of late sat Jason squarely at the 8^th position (basic scoring system) in 2009.  Romo still gave his boy some serious man-love, as Witten tied for the team lead in targets on the season (124), but unfortunately for his fantasy owners, those targets came more in between the 20s instead of in the redzone.

~  Ranked eighth in the league with 115.0 TE fantasy points (basic scoring system)

~  Tied for 96th in the league with 2 receiving touchdowns

~  Ranked third among tight ends in the league with 1,030 receiving yards (21^st overall)

~  Ranked fourth among tight ends in the league with 64.4 receiving yards per game (25^th overall)

~  Ranked second among tight ends in the league with 94 receptions (ninth overall)

~  Ranked fifth among tight ends in the league with 125 targets (21^st overall)

~  Tied for fifth among tight ends in the league with 11 receptions of 20+ yards (tied for 39^th overall)

~  Ranked fourth among tight ends in the league with 48 catches for first downs (23rd overall)

~  Ranked fifth among tight ends in the league with 407 yards after the catch (YAC) (24^th overall)

The Cowboys are in line to have a banner year offensively, which means Jason Witten should jump back into the top 4-5 fantasy tight ends in the league.  There’s no way in the world defenses will be able to cover all that talent, especially now with Dez Bryant in the mix, so while the D-Backs are trying to figure out how to get jumps on Bryant, Austin, and Williams, Witten should be the one to benefit most.  His receptions and yardage will either stay the same or go up in 2010, and we just don’t see it being possible for him to catch any less than 5 TDs.  His one big downfall, however, is that he’s also one of the better blocking TEs in the league, which is how Dallas tends to use him in the redzone.  That being said, two TDs was by no means the norm for Jason, so despite his role inside the 20, we expect at least 5 TDs this season and anticipate even more.

~ Romo loves him some Witten, a fact that can’t be ignored

~ With the addition of super-talent Dez Bryant, the offense should be wide open for Witten in the middle of the field

~ Concerning Romo’s love for Witten and the his TD production last year, he’ll likely do everything he can to get Jason his due in 2010

Jason Witten (@JasonWitten) can be followed on Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/JasonWitten

Follow Pyro® on Twitter @pyroman1ac

Witten: Hard-nosed player with the skills to back it up

In July of 2006, Jason signed a six-year, $29 million contract extension through 2012 that contained $12 million guaranteed, a $6 million signing bonus, and a $6 million option bonus in the second year.  The remaining years on the deal are outlined below:

2010 - $2.641 million (+500k roster bonus)

2011 - $3.391 million (+500k roster bonus)

2012 - $3.641 million (+$1 million roster bonus)

2013 - Free Agent

• Offensive Line


• Offensive Scheme


• Major Off-Season Moves


• 2010 NFL Draft

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