16 seasons. 255 games. 1,215 receptions. 12,977 yards. 72 receiving touchdowns.

The stat line of Dallas Cowboys legendary tight end Jason Witten will never be touched by another tight end in the storied history of the Cowboys, as he has fully cemented his name into the history books for Dallas.

And while Witten has moved on to play for the newly-moved Las Vegas Raiders, the Cowboys are needing to find another tight end to become the trusted safety valve for quarterback Dak Prescott.

Blake Jarwin has entered the conversation.

Signed back at the end of April 2017 by the Cowboys, the undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State has made a name for himself through his first three seasons in the league. After having put together his best season of his brief NFL career last season, Jarwin is going to be looked at as the team’s No. 1 TE option moving forward.

Having just signed a four-year, $22 million extension in March 16 of this year, Jarwin will need to more than exceed his 31-reception/365-yard/three-touchdown stat line from last season. 31 receptions do not seem like a ton, but he experienced a two-plus percent jump in total snaps that he was on the field for in ‘19 compared to 2018 (38.6 vs 36.0) and his production increased as well, albeit only by four more receptions and 58 yards.

CBS Sports has Jarwin’s 2020 season projection slated at 825 yards and 7 scores, which would be more than a two-fold increase in both yardage and touchdowns. But Witten is not on the team anymore taking away first-team snaps from Jarwin. Furthermore, Jarwin’s abilities to succeed in his new offensive scheme should be on full display this season.

With the changing of the guard from Jason Garrett to Mike McCarthy at the head coach position, the opportunities that Jarwin should get in pass-catching situations should actually increase quite well, especially with McCarthy’s penchant of a West Coast offense to involve tight ends on a decently-high basis.

To add another tight end to the team, the Cowboys signed former Kansas City Chiefs tight end Blake Bell, who just won his first Super Bowl. Bell played the role of blocking complement to Travis Kelce in the Chiefs’ offense, and that looks to be the focal capacity that he will be serving here again with Dallas. The offensive will not only play into his strengths, but will also help free up Jarwin to take on more pass-catching responsibilities and run more routes.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who is the former backup QB for the Cowboys a few years back, has faced some flak for his offensive playcalling for the team recently. But he looks like he could gel quite well with McCarthy, who is trying to get himself back into the league after stepping away from the league for a bit to regroup.

The MO of McCarthy’s offensive background truly grew when he made the transition from being the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator to becoming the head coach of the Green Bay Packers back in 2006. It was position that he held all the way until 2018. For McCarthy, his offensive know-how was developed to its peak on the back of superstar QB Aaron Rodgers during his prime years. And while the lone Super Bowl title — 2010 over the Pittsburgh Steelers — represents one of the biggest crimes in recent NFL memory, he still has that ability to develop an offense to where it needs to be, which is something that Dallas has been lacking.

Garrett’s offensive schematic elements became very stagnant towards the latter part of his Dallas head coaching career, and his inabilities to shift his thinking got him canned. It is essentially the same reason that the Packers decided to move on from McCarthy and onto Matt LaFleur. When the GB offense was in its prime, it looked to Jermichael Finley as its middle-of-the-field catalyst to help extend the field and set the tone, helping open up underneath routes for its slot guys and give the outside receivers 1-on-1 coverage opportunities.

With Amari Cooper back in the fold, combined with Michael Gallup being primed for a breakout year and the drafting of CeeDee Lamb in this year’s draft, the receiving core looks to be exactly where it should be to help Prescott and company reach a whole new level of productivity, and Jarwin’s role will be integral to that happening.

Prescott’s ongoing negotiations aside, he has relied on a solid safety valve of a tight end to always be there, especially with how often he is under pressure. According to NFL.com’s Nick Shook’s rankings, Prescott attempted the third-most passes under pressure last year with 144 attempts. He was one of two QBs to have thrown for 1,000-plus yards while under pressure, and he ended the year with a 7:3 TD to INT ratio while under pressure, showing how important a role like Jarwin can fulfill.

Out routes, leaking out into the flat, three and five-yard flag routes, and even tight end screens are the best friends of QBs, especially when they need to get the ball out quickly. And Jarwin can succeed on all levels of dissecting the defense, but his short-to-intermediate routes will be the most important part of his 2020 season and beyond.

While having been in Dallas for three seasons so far, Jarwin has been able to not only develop a rapport with Prescott, but also with Moore in his play calling. And even though McCarthy will be taking over and instilling another sense of an offensive playbook, Jarwin’s role will only see an increase.

Jarwin has the tools in his bag to eventually represent the next-closest tight end to what Witten provided to this offense, even if it takes him much longer to get to that point. Through what he has already shown on the offensive side of the ball, combined with the trend of the offense and what is going to be expected of him moving forward into 2020 and beyond, the likelihood of Jarwin breaking out and becoming the next solid-to-great tight end for the Cowboys is quite high, provided things all come together correctly.