Gathers is an absolute Beast and smooth as Silk

[Billyd]

Swaim did play a fair number of snaps, and that is what will make him the frontrunner to start out of the gate. I don't really think the speed difference is what kept him behind Hanna on the depth chart though because Hanna wasn't being used much as a receiver either (only 9 targets last year).

That was it..Experience and speed..Linehan and Garrett are predictable that way!

 

[Number1]

I'm not ready to put the words Rico, beast, and smooth in the same sentence yet, but I hope they throw him the ball.

 

[NotForLong]

BRO im saying they should not have..Sixth rounder. Or a udfa that neither has produced!

 

[Billyd]

Well so you are making a potential te less of a need, coz other tigtend getting courted by another team, both not worth of anything atm...lol

 

[OmerV]

That was it..Experience and speed..Linehan and Garrett are predictable that way!

Experience I can buy, but the speed factor is pretty inconsequential for a guy who was used almost exclusively as a blocker.

 

[Billyd]

HANNA special teams ace as well. BUT THATS all i got..Witten and Hanna had a pretty good relationship with ball a few years ago..I dont think it was a Swaim negative!

 

[buybuydandavis]

Do we really think the Cowboys coaches haven't been telling Rico blocking is important to his future with the team? That message seems to be pretty clear to the fans, so I don't know how Rico could have been kept in the dark.

As for a plan, who's to say the Cowboys didn't have a plan? But the plan can't be fully scripted because there are no certainties with how a player will develop, plus the early concussion threw a kink in things too.

So you know, I did not favor retaining Garrett, but I do think it's unfair to assume the Cowboys aren't doing things that we can't know if they do or not.

I'm going by Rico's comments:

"Last year was a big adjustment," Gathers said Wednesday from the Cowboys' last OTA session. "I was going for more trying to be quicker, trying to be faster. But that hurt me in the blocking game a lot where I felt like I was just a body, just a body catching a blow.​

Rico's weight seems to be up to Rico's whimsy, and last year he had the rather infamous comment that "Gronk(?) doesn't block either".

Add that up, and I don't see a plan from day one that learning how to block is Rico's top priority. He thought he would stroll into the league and be a receiving star who didn't need to bother with blocking. Two years in, he finally seems to realize that aint happening and he needs to learn how to block to get on the field. Which I was saying from day one.

 

[glimmerman]

I'm going by Rico's comments:

"Last year was a big adjustment," Gathers said Wednesday from the Cowboys' last OTA session. "I was going for more trying to be quicker, trying to be faster. But that hurt me in the blocking game a lot where I felt like I was just a body, just a body catching a blow.​

Rico's weight seems to be up to Rico's whimsy, and last year he had the rather infamous comment that "Gronk(?) doesn't block either".

Add that up, and I don't see a plan from day one that learning how to block is Rico's top priority. He thought he would stroll into the league and be a receiving star who didn't need to bother with blocking. Two years in, he finally seems to realize that aint happening and he needs to learn how to block to get on the field. Which I was saying from day one.

Let’s see if he learned.

 

[OmerV]

I'm going by Rico's comments:

"Last year was a big adjustment," Gathers said Wednesday from the Cowboys' last OTA session. "I was going for more trying to be quicker, trying to be faster. But that hurt me in the blocking game a lot where I felt like I was just a body, just a body catching a blow.​

Rico's weight seems to be up to Rico's whimsy, and last year he had the rather infamous comment that "Gronk(?) doesn't block either".

Add that up, and I don't see a plan from day one that learning how to block is Rico's top priority. He thought he would stroll into the league and be a receiving star who didn't need to bother with blocking. Two years in, he finally seems to realize that aint happening and he needs to learn how to block to get on the field. Which I was saying from day one.

Aside from the fact small sound bites from one side aren't necessarily a reliable way to judge things, typically I would think a player only changes his weight when the coaches ask him to, and if the player decides to change weight without the coaches telling him to that's on him. As for the Gronk comment, I don't really know how to interpret that. I wonder if he is/was stubbornly clinging to the idea of being a Gronkowski rather than accepting reality.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Aside from the fact small sound bites from one side aren't necessarily a reliable way to judge things, typically I would think a player only changes his weight when the coaches ask him to, and if the player decides to change weight without the coaches telling him to that's on him. As for the Gronk comment, I don't really know how to interpret that. I wonder if he is/was stubbornly clinging to the idea of being a Gronkowski rather than accepting reality.

There are a couple of articles this year at the banned site with interviews from Rico. Read what he has to say about his evolving attitudes over where he fits in.

 

[OmerV]

There are a couple of articles this year at the banned site with interviews from Rico. Read what he has to say about his evolving attitudes over where he fits in.

I'll try to do that, but I have to say I find it difficult to believe the team has never talked to him about the expectations for a TE in the offense or told him that blocking is a key element for him to improve on - seems it's been out there for the public to see the last few years, so I don't know how it was never communicated to Gathers. I also find it hard to believe that even if he felt the communication from the coaches was unclear that he couldn't ask rather than throw an occasional quote at a reporter or put something out on social media. Ultimately I think there is more communication than fans think. If nothing else coaches are in the ears and face of players in practice, during drills and in scrimmages. It really shouldn't be that difficult to pick up on what coaches are pushing in drills and scrimmages.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I'll try to do that, but I have to say I find it difficult to believe the team has never talked to him about the expectations for a TE in the offense or told him that blocking is a key element for him to improve on - seems it's been out there for the public to see the last few years, so I don't know how it was never communicated to Gathers. I also find it hard to believe that even if he felt the communication from the coaches was unclear that he couldn't ask rather than throw an occasional quote at a reporter or put something out on social media. Ultimately I think there is more communication than fans think. If nothing else coaches are in the ears and face of players in practice, during drills and in scrimmages. It really shouldn't be that difficult to pick up on what coaches are pushing in drills and scrimmages.

I used to find a lot of the failures of our coaching staff hard to believe, but they've worn me down on that bit.

Let me know how you feel after reading the articles. Rico paints an image of him focusing on trying to become a WR. As he describes what he's doing *this year*, he talks about the coaches and blocking.