Ferguson is usually a sure-handed target, but that has changed over the last two seasons.
The 2025 season was a strange one for Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson.
Coming into the year, Ferguson didn't have a touchdown at all in the 2024 season, which was just bizarre, and the tight end rectified that, as he and Dak Prescott connected for eight touchdowns in Brian Schottenheimer's first year as play-caller.
But while that was good, the rest of Ferguson's season left a lot to be desired.
Yes, he had the most receptions of his career in a single season (82), but he only produced 600 yards, the second-best return of his career. So Ferguson was three yards and a cloud of dust.
The chain-moving beast was nowhere to be seen, and in truth, Dak rarely connected with Ferguson on the seam route that made them a deadly duo in years prior.
But then something else popped up and became a problem that maybe some forgot about—Jake fumbled... a lot.
In his first two seasons, Ferguson didn't have a single fumble. In his last two years? He's had seven, and in 2025, it was a big problem.
Jake's three fumbles came in a five-game stretch, and Dallas lost two of them, against the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions.
In ESPN's piece where coaches, scouts, and executives rank the top 10 at each position, when it came to tight ends, Ferguson didn't make the list; instead, he was but an "honorable mention."
But it was what one NFC Scout told Jeremy Fowler that made my ears prick up.
"He's really solid all around, high catch volume, tough, competes in the run game. His problem is fumbling. We targeted trying to get the ball loose when we played him," the scout said.
So, there is a clear weakness for Dallas' starting tight end, and teams went out of their way to make sure Ferguson was a target because he had been known for fumbling.
That isn't great.
Now, Jake didn't fumble in his last four games of the season, but it is worth noting that he didn't have more than three catches and 19 yards in any of those games. So he wasn't getting the ball as much.
Do we read something into that? Ferguson had just two receptions for 11 yards in the final two games of the year.
So it is clearly something other defenses have noticed is a real issue, and in 2026, you better believe they will come for the football again when No. 87 has the ball in his hands, because there's a narrative there now.
And it's one Jake has to end if the Cowboys are to be the offense many think they can be.
