Through the first five weeks of this 2025 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys' offense has been one of the most prolific in the league, ranking first in total yards per game (406.6) and fourth in scoring (30.2)
Javonte Williams has led a surprising Dallas rushing attack that currently ranks eighth in the NFL at 134.4 yards per contest, but today's focus is on the Cowboys' passing attack, which ranks third at 272.2 yards per game.
Now, what's been so impressive about what Dak Prescott has done thus far is that he's been without the services of four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro CeeDee Lamb for the past three games. Yes, technically, No. 88 was on the field in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears but failed to record a catch before suffering the ankle injury that's kept him on the sidelines for the last couple of weeks.
As such, others have been forced to step up and George Pickens and tight end Jake Ferguson have certainly answered the call. In fact, both will enter the Cowboys' Week 6 matchup with the Carolina Panthers as franchise record holders, with Pickens setting a new mark for touchdowns and Ferguson setting a new mark for receptions.
George Pickens and Jake Ferguson are both on pace to set new single-season Cowboys receiving records
We'll start with Pickens, who some were concerned about, given some of the bad behavior he displayed during his three-year run with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But since joining America's Team, the 24-year-old has seemingly been a model teammate and has played some fantastic football, catching 23 passes thus far for a team-leading 357 yards and five touchdowns.
With that fifth touchdown, a 43-yarder this past Sunday in the Cowboys' 37-22 victory over the New York Jets, Pickens is now the only player in franchise history to record five receiving touchdowns in his first five games with the team. If he continues to average one per game for the remainder of the campaign, he'd obviously end the year with 17, which would break the franchise record of 16, which was set by Dez Bryant in 2014.
As for Ferguson, who had a bit of a down year a season ago after making the Pro Bowl in 2023, he's been an absolute workhorse, catching 41 passes thus far, good for the second-most in the NFL behind only Puka Nacua, for 272 yards.
With those 41 receptions, the Wisconsin alum is now the only tight end in Cowboys history to reach 40 receptions in the first five games in a season and only the fourth tight end in NFL history to do so, joining Eric Johnson (41, 2004), Antonio Gates (40, 2007), and Zach Ertz (41, 2018). He's also just the second tight end in Dallas history with at least five receptions in the team's first five games, the other being Jason Witten in 2018.
If Ferguson continues this pace, he'd end the year with 139 receptions, which would not only shatter the Cowboys' single-season record for a tight end, which Witten set in 2012 with 110, but would also break the overall record, which Lamb set in 2023 with 135.
Of course, one would assume that both Pickens and Ferguson will see fewer targets once Lamb returns to the lineup. But that doesn't mean both won't continue to be crucial components to the Cowboys' offensive attack.