How will we play Escobar?

[JoeyBoy718]

Just curious. I'm thinking he might be our X-factor this year. Well, what I mean is, he better be our X-factor after we spent a 2nd rounder on him. But he does have a lot of physical talent and athleticism, and he was hailed as having the hands of a receiver. I know our claim for not playing him that much last year was because 1) we still have Witten and 2) he isn't a great blocker. Well, I say, who cares? New Orleans had to pay Jimmy Graham like a WR because he lined up as a WR 70% of the time last year. Lots of other teams have done the same. If we're not gonna play two-TE sets like we claimed we would, the least we could do is line him up at WR. He was considered to be a poor man's Jimmy Graham. Why not play him like that? It isn't like we have a legitimate #2 WR anyway. I guess what I'm saying is, we better get creative and find a way to get the most out of Escobar. We have too much talent on offense and didn't waste three 1st rounders on O-line to not get creative with our play design.

 

[TheFinisher]

Just curious. I'm thinking he might be our X-factor this year. Well, what I mean is, he better be our X-factor after we spent a 2nd rounder on him. But he does have a lot of physical talent and athleticism, and he was hailed as having the hands of a receiver. I know our claim for not playing him that much last year was because 1) we still have Witten and 2) he isn't a great blocker. Well, I say, who cares? New Orleans had to pay Jimmy Graham like a WR because he lined up as a WR 70% of the time last year. Lots of other teams have done the same. If we're not gonna play two-TE sets like we claimed we would, the least we could do is line him up at WR. He was considered to be a poor man's Jimmy Graham. Why not play him like that? It isn't like we have a legitimate #2 WR anyway. I guess what I'm saying is, we better get creative and find a way to get the most out of Escobar. We have too much talent on offense and didn't waste three 1st rounders on O-line to not get creative with our play design.

Escobar should see an expanded role this year, he should be a legit weapon in the redzone and can really do some damage working between the hashes in the middle of the field when we spread teams out in 12 personnel.

However I believe we do have a legitimate #2 receiver in Williams. The guy is tailor made to be a deep threat in our offense, should only improve off what he did last year which was an impressive rookie campaign. When you have a guy like that who can take the top off a defense, 2 big bodied athletic TEs to create mismatches in the middle of the field, a RB who can make thing happen in space on swing passes, and a do it all elite WR in Dez... Well, good luck game planning against that passing attack.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Escobar should see an expanded role this year, he should be a legit weapon in the redzone and can really do some damage working between the hashes in the middle of the field when we spread teams out in 12 personnel.

However I believe we do have a legitimate #2 receiver in Williams. The guy is tailor made to be a deep threat in our offense, should only improve off what he did last year which was an impressive rookie campaign. When you have a guy like that who can take the top off a defense, 2 big bodied athletic TEs to create mismatches in the middle of the field, a RB who can make thing happen in space on swing passes, and a do it all elite WR in Dez... Well, good luck game planning against that passing attack.

But how do you feel about Escobar lining up as an extra WR? We seem to play some of our best ball when we run 5 WR sets. But I think Escobar is too talented to only use in 2 TE sets. We need to find a way to get him on the field more.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Word today from Witten is he has hit the weights and gained some strength. That will get him on the field more because he will be able to block better. We have a lot of weapons and should have a decreased number of passing attempts so the chances of him catching a lot of passes isn't high. But we should see an increase in deceptions for Escobar this year.

 

[TheFinisher]

But how do you feel about Escobar lining up as an extra WR? We seem to play some of our best ball when we run 5 WR sets. But I think Escobar is too talented to only use in 2 TE sets. We need to find a way to get him on the field more.

I think he will definitely play off the line in some packages, even as a guy who can move around in the backfield. I personally hate the 5 wide sets because it tips your hand too much. Our best 5 should be some combination of Dez, Murray, Witten, Williams, and Escobar. There's more than one way to line that unit up and it should make for some matchup problems. The whole attraction of the 2 TE offense was the ability to be multiple with the same personnel group, I think we'll see a lot of it this year.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

TWill has proven to be a more legitimate wr than Escobar. Don't know what else Williams had to do last year to be considered legitimate for some here.

 

[DoctorChicken]

2 TE offense that Garret loves, duh.

Oh wait.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

TWill has proven to be a more legitimate wr than Escobar. Don't know what else Williams had to do last year to be considered legitimate for some here.

I like Williams and I think he earned the job. I just think Escobar can be an x-factor for us. He played more like a WR in college but has the body of a TE. Guys like that are impossible to defend in the NFL. Look at Jimmy Graham. I think we can be more creative with Escobar than we can with Williams. I just hope we don't waste his talents like we did last year.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

I like Williams and I think he earned the job. I just think Escobar can be an x-factor for us. He played more like a WR in college but has the body of a TE. Guys like that are impossible to defend in the NFL. Look at Jimmy Graham. I think we can be more creative with Escobar than we can with Williams. I just hope we don't waste his talents like we did last year.

We can put Witten, Escobar, Dez, and Williams in at the same time.

 

[Vintage]

I think Escobar will make some strides this year and show improvement. But it took Witten some time to develop, too.

Plus, I want to see some of our fan base get pissed off when Escobar does well. It will be amusing.

 

[MonsterD]

I would think Hanna is more of a WR threat than Escobar, he is a lot faster than Escobar. I like sideline and redzone for Escobar where he can use his body along partial sheilding of the border, but as far as space he is not going to burn any safety or even any linebackers for that matter.

 

[AbeBeta]

TWill has proven to be a more legitimate wr than Escobar. Don't know what else Williams had to do last year to be considered legitimate for some here.

TWill is a WR. Of course he is a more legit WR than Escobar.

He comes into the season as our #2 WR. I don't see how that impacts Escobar in any manner.

 

[starfrombirth]

But how do you feel about Escobar lining up as an extra WR? We seem to play some of our best ball when we run 5 WR sets. But I think Escobar is too talented to only use in 2 TE sets. We need to find a way to get him on the field more.

I agree with you about increasing Escobar's usage and the 5WR sets but my feeling is that in the 5 wide we will have Dez, Williams, Witten, Street, and Washington. Yes I know that Washington was an UDFA but I think they like him and his speed is something we don't have in any of the other receivers.

 

[DBOY3141]

I think Escobar has the talent to be a very good TE, however I hope he puts up modest numbers and I say that because I hope they concentrate more on running than ball than throwing it this year. With Dez, TWill, Witten and a very solid running game, it would be very tough to get 40+ catches.

 

[Denim Chicken]

I would think Hanna is more of a WR threat than Escobar, he is a lot faster than Escobar. I like sideline and redzone for Escobar where he can use his body along partial sheilding of the border, but as far as space he is not going to burn any safety or even any linebackers for that matter.

Hanna is really the forgotten man on offense.

 

[Idgit]

Hanna is really the forgotten man on offense.

Yeah. I was pretty disappointed in his progress last season as a threat in the passing game. Maybe that's unfair to him, but he looked like he had a shot to develop into a weapon the way Beasley did.

 

[Fredd]

My initial reaction when reading the thread title is "not enough"

but, I believe him to be a better receiver than blocker so I hope the coaches realize that and use him more in patterns, whether that be from TE or as an extra WR

 

[Crown Royal]

Yeah. I was pretty disappointed in his progress last season as a threat in the passing game. Maybe that's unfair to him, but he looked like he had a shot to develop into a weapon the way Beasley did.

I don't think I ever saw a direct reason that they gave up on Hanna so quickly and took escobar.

 

[the_h0wey]

Just curious. I'm thinking he might be our X-factor this year. Well, what I mean is, he better be our X-factor after we spent a 2nd rounder on him. But he does have a lot of physical talent and athleticism, and he was hailed as having the hands of a receiver. I know our claim for not playing him that much last year was because 1) we still have Witten and 2) he isn't a great blocker. Well, I say, who cares? New Orleans had to pay Jimmy Graham like a WR because he lined up as a WR 70% of the time last year. Lots of other teams have done the same. If we're not gonna play two-TE sets like we claimed we would, the least we could do is line him up at WR. He was considered to be a poor man's Jimmy Graham. Why not play him like that? It isn't like we have a legitimate #2 WR anyway. I guess what I'm saying is, we better get creative and find a way to get the most out of Escobar. We have too much talent on offense and didn't waste three 1st rounders on O-line to not get creative with our play design.

He will probably play TE.

 

[Craig]

Do the Cowboys actually not have a legit #2 receiver is your idea of a #2 receiver skewed?