News: BTB: What, Exactly, Has Gavin Escobar Done For The Dallas Cowboys? Part I

[NewsBot]

The second round of the Dallas Cowboys draft appears to be where TEs go to die. Gavin Escobar has, by consensus, been a big bag of nothing and fans are frustrated. But are they correct?

You'll note, I hope, that the title picture features Gavin Escobar scoring a TD while Pro Bowl safety Kam Chancellor watches. This started something that no one thought could happen: the Cowboys coming back from ten points down at Century Link Field against Seattle.

But by and large the story has been that Escobar is a bust; a wasted second-round pick who has been unable to contribute. I'm going to examine that thought from a couple of different directions. First, I'll look at Escobar's first two years of contribution statistically against the two other "second round busts" Anthony Fasano and Martellus Bennett. Then, in a follow up, I'll take a look at some plays that Escobar makes without being targeted and try to show the effect he has on the offense over and above his receiving ability.

Let's examine the straight-up stats against previous second-round TEs for Dallas.

Fasano: 28 receptions, 269 yds, 1 TD

Bennett: 35 receptions, 442 yds, 4 TD

Escobar: 18 recs, 239 yds, 6 TD

Two things should immediately jump out: Escobar has the fewest catches by a wide margin, but has more TD than both the others combined. That's a clue.

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