Luke Schoonmaker looks to former Cowboys tight end Jason Witten for advice on rookie season

As new Cowboys tight end Luke Schoonmaker begins his journey in the NFL, the rookie is looking to lean on the expertise of one former Dallas star in particular. Jason Witten, who was a main fixture of the Cowboys offense for 16 seasons, certainly has a wealth of knowledge to share – if the busy man has time to answer the phone.

“I did reach out to him, I’m waiting to hear back from him,” Schoonmaker said over the weekend. “I think he’d be such a great person to talk to and get a lot of ideas from how he attacked his rookie season.”

Schoonmaker grew up watching and idolizing former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. Since going in the second round of the draft to Dallas, however, the former Michigan standout has a new player to model his game and career path after.

“I’ve been watching Witten all the time,” Schoonmaker said. “Just him as a player is spectacular, he’s a hall of famer, but him as a person, he’s a team leader. I’ve been trying to research and understand his mindset around how he went about leadership.”

Schoonmaker, at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, has strong blocking ability and frequently paved the way for running backs at Michigan. Although he wasn’t one of the tight ends with elite pass-catching traits for the Cowboys during the draft process, he still has a lot to offer Dak Prescott as a receiver.

In his final season for the Wolverines, he caught 35 passes for 418 yards with three touchdowns.

“I ran a lot of crossers at Michigan,” he said. “That was kind of my favorite, just being able to expand on that a lot more [in Dallas]. Getting separation and being fast, I love getting open across the field.”

Schoonmaker joins several former Big Ten tight ends in Dallas

Not tooting his own horn, Schoonmaker was modest about what he believes his role will be among his fellow tight ends. He joins 2022 draftee Jake Ferguson, as well as Peyton Hendershot and Sean McKeon, all of whom attended schools in the Big Ten before heading to the NFL.

“I just think as another key component to the tight end room,” Schoonmaker said. “We’re pretty loaded with guys that can do so many different things. I’ll just be in there to do whatever is asked of me.

“It is like a Four Horsemen group. All of them being put in different spots and everyone is playing a lot. It’s gonna be fun going in there to be another Horseman and bring what I can to that room.”