Tyler Foster the Next Step in Cowboys’ Reintroduction to Tight Ends

STILLWATER — From a playmaking perspective, the tight end position at Oklahoma State had been dormant for a while, but the Cowboys seem to be putting an increased emphasis on the position of late.

For starters, the OSU tight ends are called tight ends again after a chunk of time when they were lumped with the fullbacks under the Cowboy back moniker. Now, this isn’t to say that the tight ends (or Cowboy backs as they were once called) have been a hapless position group in Stillwater. They have provided a ton of dirty work under position coach Jason McEndoo, being versatile to both run and pass block while showing flashes as pass catchers.

But Josiah Johnson breathed new life in the position group last season when he was recruited via UMass out of the transfer portal to be a tight end, not a Cowboy back. Johnson finished the 2023 season, the last of his college career, having caught 22 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers won’t immediately jump off the page, but it was the first time since Jelani Woods in 2020 that OSU had a tight end (or Cowboy back) eclipse 100 receiving yards in a season. In fact, Johnson’s 166 yards are the most of any OSU tight end since Blake Jarwin caught 19 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns in the 2016 season.

Johnson pushed the position group into a new era, and OSU continued that trajectory by landing another portal tight end this offseason in Tyler Foster. Foster comes to OSU from Ohio after catching 33 balls for 396 yards and four touchdowns in the past two seasons combined. No. 86 on OSU’s roster, Foster is listed at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds — making him an inch taller and 20 pounds heavier than what Johnson was listed at last season.

Two years removed from the Cowboy back moniker, Foster said Saturday at OSU’s media day that he has heard tales of the Cowboy back, but through his recruiting process and since being on campus, he has felt comfortable in his role in Stillwater as a tight end.

“They instantly had statistics pulled up,” Foster said. “Coach McEndoo had PFF grades, he had film cutups, he had everything for me to kind of show me where they were aiming towards. And he did say they hadn’t had anything really set in stone yet, but he did say with the trend they were heading I would think favorably on how they use the tight end in their offense. And up to this point, I think that they’ve absolutely held true to their word. I have heard from guys that had been here that they incorporate us a lot more than they ever had, so that’s a really cool thing.”

As the position group continues to move in the revamped direction, it doesn’t appear as if the Cowboys will have to look to the portal year after year to find the Cowboys’ next stop gap. OSU coach Mike Gundy this spring spoke glowingly about Josh Ford, an early enrollee freshman out of Stillwater High School. Much of Gundy’s praise revolved around Ford standing out from a physical standpoint as a guy who should’ve been in his spring semester as a high school senior. Ford is listed on OSU’s roster at 6-6, 245.

Before I could even ask Foster about Ford directly, Foster brought the youngster up when asked about players who have stood out to him at this point.

“Shoutout my guy Josh Ford,” Foster said. “Freshman tight end in our room, he’s a stud. That’s my guy. We’ve got really close over the past few months since I’ve been here. He’s awesome. He’s going to be a great player down the road for sure.

“He’s very mature for a freshman. Definitely could improve some of the football intelligence stuff, but he’s very physical on the field. And he is definitely getting a lot more technically sound, which is really important playing in this offense.”

As for why Foster picked the Pokes out of the portal, he said it had to do with the overall fit — not just on the field.

He said he wants to pursue professional football, something that he is likely to get a shot at. Johnson and Braden Cassity (a Cowboy back turned fullback from last season’s squad) both signed rookie camp deals with NFL teams this offseason as undrafted free agents. Foster also said OSU has a good master’s program for his field of study after majoring in business analytics and sport management at Ohio.

“Best fit out of the portal, I think — instantly,” Foster said. “I loved everybody here from talking with them on the phone and meeting the guys on my visit, I think it was just the right fit for me as far as football, school and what I’m trying to accomplish after this stage of my life. I think this is the best place.”