Scout’s Eye: Two Tight Ends Are Making Strides

I've been saying for weeks that I felt like Jason Witten could help this club from 18 yards in. He is moving well, and it's going to be down the field where he's going to be most effective. It's in the red zone where Witten can use his smarts and size to make those key plays. Witten is one of the best when it comes to finding space when things get tough and tight. The pass he caught from Dak Prescott on Friday was a great example of that. Witten was able to position himself behind Jaylon Smith and away from Jeff Heath. Prescott gave Witten an assist by holding Heath in the middle of the field with a nice ball fake and a perfect pass to finish.

There have been a lot of positive things from Darius Jackson in this camp. He has run the ball tough and finished some runs. Where Jackson will have to pick up his game is in pass protection. There is a desire/willingness to step up and do the job, but he's a far cry from what we've seen from the position with Ezekiel Elliott. The mistake we all make is taking Elliott's blocking ability for granted. Jaylon Smith is no easy block on the blitz, and he physically took it to Jackson on back-to-back plays, both of which would have resulted in sacks on Prescott. If Darius Jackson is going to become that complete back he's going to have to improve quickly in this area.

Creative wrinkle from Kellen Moore by attacking the slot blitz with a swing route to Tony Pollard. What I especially liked about the design was that Jason Witten drove hard to the inside to attempt to pick off Jeff Heath, who was in coverage. Heath was able to avoid Witten but not before Pollard was able to catch the ball and work 10 yards up the field. We had seen earlier in camp that their answer to the slot blitz was to throw the ball to the slot on the "hot" read.

There have been some players that have gotten off to an outstanding start at this camp, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better start than Maliek Collins. Talk about stacking good days on top of each other. Collins has had practices where his teammates have had a difficult time blocking him. Connor Williams has looked much-improved this year, but he was manhandled by Collins in the 1-on-1 pass blocking drill on Friday. Williams never had a chance once he missed with his hands. Collins clubbed him with his left hand, then drove his shoulder straight into Williams' chest, knocking him to the ground as if it was just nothing at all. Williams now weighs in at 320 pounds.

Better balance equaled better work from Taco Charlton. The much-maligned defensive end is showing signs of coming around. He was actually able to put together some nice pass rush moves breaking down La'el Collins. Charlton never allowed his feet to stop and he kept slapping at Collins' hands until he was able to get them off his body and out of the way. Once he did that he was able to grab Collins' corner and pull himself around the edge. Rod Marinelli told us after practice that Charlton is improving and as long as he keeps working he has a chance, which we're starting to observe.

I had had been critical of Kavon Frazier in the offseason, maybe thinking that his job might be up for grabs. To his credit, during these practices he done a nice job of showing up in coverage when they've needed him the most. Frazier had a nice interception off Cooper Rush on a pass to Blake Jarwin. It appeared there might have been some confusion between him and Donovan Olumba on the coverage with both Dalton Schultz and Jarwin on the outside, but they were able to sort it out. Frazier almost overran Jarwin in coverage but then did a nice job of turning back to the inside in order to find the ball. By looking back for the ball the way he did, he was able to undercut the route, which put him in perfect position for the interception.

Adam Redmond wasn't too happy about Mike Weber getting roughed up by Donovan Olumba after the whistle had blown and felt like he needed to do something about it. It all started when Donovan Wilson first attempted the rip the ball out of Weber's hands. As Weber spun away he ran right into Olumba, who attempted to do the same. Others jumped in including Jameill Showers and Joe Jackson. Redmond gave Jackson a little shove but laid in big time to Olumba, who flew out of the pile after Redmond made contact. This was one of the first altercations we've seen at camp.