Escobar the blocker

[texbumthelife]

The jury is still out on this kid, but after last night I would say he really needs a lot of work as a blocker. He got absolutely man handled several times by Miami's second stringers. There was one play in particular where we had a stretch run to his side and the Dolphins defender was able to get into his body and as the HB neared, ripped out of the block and made the tackle for no gain. On several other occasions he got no push at all and his defender was able to make a play on the ball carrier. When we went to the three TE sets, he seemed a little too eager to get to the next level.

I have a hard time believing he will be anything more than a situational pass catcher this season.

With that said, the TE stable is fully stocked and fully capable as a troop unit behind Witten. I look forward to seeing more out of Escobar as a receiver as the pre-season progresses.

 

[speedkilz88]

I'm thinking the coaches have to feel he's showing promise as a blocker.

 

[texbumthelife]

I'm thinking the coaches have to feel he's showing promise as a blocker.

Well, I know coming in it was pretty clear he needed to work on his technique and to add strength, I just really didn't see much promise in that department last night. I will say this, I can definitely see him being a monster as a receiver in the redzone. Guy plays just as big as he looks. Very upright, long armed guy. I want to see him on some endzone fades.

 

[bayeslife]

I honestly don't care. His job is to be a threat in the passing game. Marty B was a great blocker, but there's a reason he's not here anymore.

 

[TheCount]

Coming in, blocking seen as the area he needed the most improvement so this is no surprise. It's still early, but I have to believe the coaches expect that to be an area of focus for him.

 

[OhSnap]

I honestly don't care. His job is to be a threat in the passing game. Marty B was a great blocker, but there's a reason he's not here anymore.

Marty is a great blocker but if you wanted him to catch 5 balls in a game you had to throw it to him 10 times.

 

[FiveRings]

I didn't pay attention to him as a blocker last night, but seeing him on the field vs. what I saw of him in college, did anyone else think he's gotten a little thicker? Definitely didn't look like the slim receiver build he had before

 

[Idgit]

I'll have to rewatch his snaps, then, but I thought in real time that he was a pleasant surprise as a blocker, which echoes what little we've heard on the topic in camp.

 

[conner01]

blocking is the one area he needs to work on and that will take some time.but remember witten was just ok when he came out and now has developed into a very solid blocker. it's a skill you can learn and i don't think he did that bad last night myself. i seen a few pretty good blocks from him

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

I remember him making a nice block on a LBer that sprung Dunbar for a decent gain. His blocking is going to be a long project but I fully expect to see him in a lot of 2 and 3 TE packages come regular season.

 

[dmq]

The guy looks huge. He's only a rookie, he'll learn how to block.

 

[Bullflop]

You don't have to be a devastating blocker to have a successful career as a TE. Jay Novacek was pretty much just a so-so blocker his entire career but still managed to get the job done effectively by simply getting in the way of opposing players during games. I suspect Escobar's overall skills will be adept enough in time for him to enjoy a reasonably successful career with Dallas. It's early for him yet, so it certainly remains to be seen what the final product will turn out to be in the years to come. No need to rush to judgment at this point.

 

[percyhoward]

Marty is a great blocker but if you wanted him to catch 5 balls in a game you had to throw it to him 10 times.

Bennett has had a negative effect on his QB's INT % no matter where he's been. His targets in Dallas raise Romo's career INT % from 2.75 to 2.81. With the Giants in 2012, he brought Eli's 2.45 up to a 2.80. Now he gets a shot at Cutler's career 3.60 % with the Bears.

 

[FLcowboy]

The jury is still out on this kid, but after last night I would say he really needs a lot of work as a blocker. He got absolutely man handled several times by Miami's second stringers. There was one play in particular where we had a stretch run to his side and the Dolphins defender was able to get into his body and as the HB neared, ripped out of the block and made the tackle for no gain. On several other occasions he got no push at all and his defender was able to make a play on the ball carrier. When we went to the three TE sets, he seemed a little too eager to get to the next level.

I have a hard time believing he will be anything more than a situational pass catcher this season.



With that said, the TE stable is fully stocked and fully capable as a troop unit behind Witten. I look forward to seeing more out of Escobar as a receiver as the pre-season progresses.

My take on the whole was they were much better at the basics than last year, which tells me this group of coaches is coaching these guys up, big time. I look for a lot of guys who played last night to get a lot better just because there flaws are now on film. Escobar is going to get a lot better.

 

[OhSnap]

Bennett has had a negative effect on his QB's INT % no matter where he's been. His targets in Dallas raise Romo's career INT % from 2.75 to 2.81. With the Giants in 2012, he brought Eli's 2.45 up to a 2.80. Now he gets a shot at Cutler's career 3.60 % with the Bears.

He could be the straw that breaks the camels back with Cutler. Thanks.

 

[Idgit]

He could be the straw that breaks the camels back with Cutler. Thanks.

In fairness to Bennett, though, the straw on Venus weighs, like, 10x what the straw here on Earth ways.

 

[danielofthesaints]

I saw Escobar with a few nice blocks out there last night that I had to go back and make sure it was actually him.

 

[dcstands4]

Coming in, blocking seen as the area he needed the most improvement so this is no surprise. It's still early, but I have to believe the coaches expect that to be an area of focus for him.

Im glad you said it, im sick of repeating myself

 

[ejthedj]

I just watched him on all his snaps. The reports are true -- his blocking is atrocious. He had 2 good blocks and a few that didn't affect the play, but a half a dozen where his bad block led to a run stuff or pressure. Sometimes, he just blocked nobody. His only good blocks were on safeties. He gets tossed around by Dline

 

[erod]

I'm expecting very little from Escobar this season, especially early on.

He's not only too weak to block, he's also too weak to get off the jam at the line into coverage.

Odd draft pick because I didn't think think they needed a tight end that bad. Down the road, he may be awesome, but for now, he may not even dress on Sundays for a while. He's the fourth best tight end right now.