FRISCO, Texas — A trio of elite tight ends have joined forces to create an offseason summit for their position. Dallas Cowboys’ Dalton Schultz will be in attendance alongside some of the NFL’s premiere mismatches.
Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers, and recently retired Greg Olsen started the inaugural event. The summit will be taking place this summer in Nashville, Tennessee to unite and elevate players at the position across the NFL.
“I talked to George [Kittle] last week,” Schultz told reporters on Tuesday. “I think that’s going to be a great opportunity to just get some general knowledge and some feel on certain techniques that different tight ends throughout the league use. Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of talent there and I’m excited to just learn and give back and take as much information and knowledge as I can from that and learn to apply that in my day-to-day.”
Following Blake Jarwin’s season-ending injury in the season opener against the Rams in 2020, Schultz embodied the ‘next man up’ mentality. He had a breakout year after assuming the starting role, making an impact with his blocking and pass-catching ability. More impressively, he put up big numbers despite a revolving door at quarterback and a makeshift offensive line. The Stanford product led all Cowboys in avoided tackles in 2020 as a receiver (12) per PFF. Schultz reached 63 receptions on the year, becoming only the fourth tight end in team history to post 60-or-more receptions in a season joining Jason Witten, Doug Cosbie and Jay Novacek.
“I can’t say enough about the progress he [Dalton Schultz] made this year,” head coach Mike McCarthy stressed to D210SPORTS following the 2020 season. “I mean his yards after the catch, breaking tackles, very savvy in the passing game, has a great understanding of everything we’re doing in the run protection and pass, so I was very pleased with the way Dalton played throughout the year and fought through bumps and injuries throughout the season…when Blake [Jarwin] went down, Dalton definitely stepped up and took full advantage of this opportunity.”
His ball skills helped boost the team’s passing game and moved the chains in critical moments last season. Schultz’ willingness to do the dirty work in the trenches often went unnoticed but freed up opportunities for teammates. Now, he will get to absorb information from veterans around the league. Well-deserved recognition for Schultz after a stellar 2020 campaign. His unselfish play is best described by his former tight end coach at Stanford, Morgan Turner.
“Dalton’s personality and love for football is infectious,” Turner relayed to D210Sports. “Any time a player embraces the dirty work like blocking, it pushes others around them to embrace their individual roles. When you love football like Dalton, putting in the extra work is easy, and the results speak for themselves.”
