One scouts take on Escobar

[RS12]

While it was hard to get a feel for Gavin Escobar’s blocking abilities off college film because he so often lined up flexed off the line of scrimmage in San Diego State’s offense, it was easy to see how dangerous a matchup he was for linebackers. His top end speed and smooth release off the ball allowed him to consistent stretch the seams, and his hands were extremely consistent. I gave Escobar a 2nd round grade off college film and felt his best fit at the NFL would be in a similar role to the one he played at San Diego State.

Dallas must have felt as I did about Escobar, as they had him doing just about nothing but in-line blocking throughout preseason, and the results were not pretty. He consistently utilized poor leverage and base, and struggled to get any movement off the ball and was unable to sustain blocks effectively. On the rare occasions he was allowed to participate in the passing game, he looked smooth and athletic in his movements and was, as expected, very consistent catching the ball.

http://firstroundgrade.com/gavin-escobar-te-dallas-cowboys/

 

[CT Dal Fan]

I've read a lot of conflicting scouting reports on Escobar; but all were in agreement on his blocking. Not everybody said he had "top end speed". I recall one scout calling him "a stiff and deliberate mover" that is "slow into and out of his breaks". I'm no scout, but to me Escobar's speed and flexibility are no worse than Jason Witten's. Let's give this kid a year or two in a pro strength and conditioning program, let him work on his technique, and I think the Cowboys have a really good player.

 

[Hoofbite]

I've read a lot of conflicting scouting reports on Escobar; but all were in agreement on his blocking. Not everybody said he had "top end speed". I recall one scout calling him "a stiff and deliberate mover" that is "slow into and out of his breaks". I'm no scout, but to me Escobar's speed and flexibility are no worse than Jason Witten's. Let's give this kid a year or two in a pro strength and conditioning program, let him work on his technique, and I think the Cowboys have a really good player.

Jason's advantage has never been speed or athleticism. He's just been a pure technician who understands coverages and knows how to work himself open.

Escobar is undoubtedly more athletic and fluid but doesn't have the experience to get the most out of it. He's just a little too raw in that regard which isn't exactly a shocker because all pass catches are.

The last part of the piece is what I have been saying. So long as he can't bock his ability to get reps is limited.

I go even a step further and say that as long as he can't block and the defense can adjust to him coming into and out of the lineup, his ability to create mismatches is largely dampened.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Jason's advantage has never been speed or athleticism. He's just been a pure technician who understands coverages and knows how to work himself open.

Escobar is undoubtedly more athletic and fluid but doesn't have the experience to get the most out of it. He's just a little too raw in that regard which isn't exactly a shocker because all pass catches are.

The last part of the piece is what I have been saying. So long as he can't bock his ability to get reps is limited.

I go even a step further and say that as long as he can't block and the defense can adjust to him coming into and out of the lineup, his ability to create mismatches is largely dampened.

I never thought about that- excellent point.

 

[Deep_South]

I gotta feeling he's going to running something other than 5 yard routes starting next Sunday.

 

[Alexander]

I go even a step further and say that as long as he can't block and the defense can adjust to him coming into and out of the lineup, his ability to create mismatches is largely dampened.

Correct. He is not going to take advantage of mismatches.

Why the 2-TE system works is that you can catch a team in their base defense, flex out the TE who has WR skills and get the mismatch.

If he is no threat to block successfully, he's basically a king-sized WR with nothing but down the field build up speed with no quickness.

We have enough skilled receivers, we don't need that.

 

[Fredd]

I am looking forward to seeing Escobar and Hanna get on the field this year; both have work to do when blocking (under-statement), but both will still provide mismatches when they are out in the pattern;

 

[Risen Star]

Jason's advantage has never been speed or athleticism. He's just been a pure technician who understands coverages and knows how to work himself open.

Escobar is undoubtedly more athletic and fluid but doesn't have the experience to get the most out of it. He's just a little too raw in that regard which isn't exactly a shocker because all pass catches are.

The last part of the piece is what I have been saying. So long as he can't bock his ability to get reps is limited.

I go even a step further and say that as long as he can't block and the defense can adjust to him coming into and out of the lineup, his ability to create mismatches is largely dampened.

Agreed. If he's that one dimensional, you're giving the defense a pre-snap sign of what's coming.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

I hope the Cowboys won't be that predictable with their two TE offense- here comes Andre Smith, so it's a run, here comes Escobar/James Hanna, they must be throwing it.

 

[Galian Beast]

There still is a lot of misunderstanding here.

First, if you actually watched the games, especially the Houston games, you would see that Escobars blocking got a lot better as the preseason went on. Second is that he isn't going to primarily be asked to block by design. They used him that way to get him experience, and likely to not put out too much tape on him running routes from the 12. Something he basically didn't do (yet was brought here to do, you make your own conclusion). Lastly, our base offense is the 12 formation. As soon as he supplants Hanna, and you should expect that to happen soon, he will be a starter. That being said 11 is also a package that we are going to rely heavily on. It's why we drafted Williams in the first place. If it makes you feel better you can say that we drafted Williams in the 2nd round and Escobar in the 3rd. We actually had Williams rated higher, but felt we could get him in the 3rd because of the depth at wide receiver in the draft compared to tight end. Those picks go hand in hand in what I would call our 6th man strategy.

Footnote: If you watch the Patriots before, you would have seen Hernandez doesn't block much, he creates a mismatch because he is covered by linebackers who can't match up with him. It's not because they think he might block...

 

[perrykemp]

This part of the analysis was scary: "unless he improves his blocking considerably he will never be an every-down player in Dallas."

 

[Galian Beast]

This part of the analysis was scary: "unless he improves his blocking considerably he will never be an every-down player in Dallas."

Even if he improves his blocking, there was never a plan for him to be an every-down player. That isn't the strategy behind our offense. It's rather irritating that people are glossing over that.

Even if they want him to replace Witten, he has years to become a better blocker to do that. The more immediate future he is splitting reps with Hanna, Williams, and Beasley.

 

[Hoofbite]

There still is a lot of misunderstanding here.

First, if you actually watched the games, especially the Houston games, you would see that Escobars blocking got a lot better as the preseason went on. Second is that he isn't going to primarily be asked to block by design. They used him that way to get him experience, and likely to not put out too much tape on him running routes from the 12. Something he basically didn't do (yet was brought here to do, you make your own conclusion). Lastly, our base offense is the 12 formation. As soon as he supplants Hanna, and you should expect that to happen soon, he will be a starter. That being said 11 is also a package that we are going to rely heavily on. It's why we drafted Williams in the first place. If it makes you feel better you can say that we drafted Williams in the 2nd round and Escobar in the 3rd. We actually had Williams rated higher, but felt we could get him in the 3rd because of the depth at wide receiver in the draft compared to tight end. Those picks go hand in hand in what I would call our 6th man strategy.

I didn't think Houston, not the first half anyway, was a good game for him in terms of blocking when I was watching it live. I'll take another look and see but I remember a few plays where he looked just as he had in previous games.

Footnote: If you watch the Patriots before, you would have seen Hernandez doesn't block much, he creates a mismatch because he is covered by linebackers who can't match up with him. It's not because they think he might block...

Actually, if you watch the Patriots you'd likely have seen that Hernandez blocks quite a bit, about 40% of the time he's on the field. In addition to the fact that he was on the field for about 73% of New England's plays, a number lower than what you would see by watching tape from 2011 or 2012 because he only received 53% of the snaps in 2010. 2011 he was at 86.1% and 2012 he was at 76.8% Percentages are based on games in which they played so I excluded snaps from games where he was sitting out.

What you won't see is him pass blocking, 2.4% of the snaps he's on the field from 2010 to 2012. This number is also inflated by the fact that they had to move him into Gronk's role while Rob was absent. He pass blocking was 4.8% of the snaps he took in 2012, significantly increased from 2010 (1.6%) and 2011 (1.0%) when Gronkowski wasn't missing a lot of time.

For 37.1% of the snaps between 2010 and 2012, Hernandez was run blocking on a total of 73% of the plays New England ran that he could have been in on.

So yes, it is precisely because they think he might block that forces a LB to cover him. If they didn't think he was going to block, they'd bring in an extra DB to cover him.

 

[Hoofbite]

Even if he improves his blocking, there was never a plan for him to be an every-down player. That isn't the strategy behind our offense. It's rather irritating that people are glossing over that.

Even if they want him to replace Witten, he has years to become a better blocker to do that. The more immediate future he is splitting reps with Hanna, Williams, and Beasley.

The 2TE strategy is to never take either of them off the field any more than you have to. Why would you? If you have 2TEs who are better receivers than your #3 WR, why would take either of them off the field?

In 2011, Gronkowski was in on 94% of the offensive snaps and Hernandez was in on 86% after accounting for the 2 games he missed.

If there was never a plan for him to be an every-down player, the Cowboys aren't running the 2TE offense correctly.

 

[Galian Beast]

I didn't think Houston, not the first half anyway, was a good game for him in terms of blocking when I was watching it live. I'll take another look and see but I remember a few plays where he looked just as he had in previous games.



Actually, if you watch the Patriots you'd likely have seen that Hernandez blocks quite a bit, about 40% of the time he's on the field. In addition to the fact that he was on the field for about 73% of New England's plays, a number lower than what you would see by watching tape from 2011 or 2012 because he only received 53% of the snaps in 2010. 2011 he was at 86.1% and 2012 he was at 76.8% Percentages are based on games in which they played so I excluded snaps from games where he was sitting out.

What you won't see is him pass blocking, 2.4% of the snaps he's on the field from 2010 to 2012. This number is also inflated by the fact that they had to move him into Gronk's role while Rob was absent. He pass blocking was 4.8% of the snaps he took in 2012, significantly increased from 2010 (1.6%) and 2011 (1.0%) when Gronkowski wasn't missing a lot of time.

For 37.1% of the snaps between 2010 and 2012, Hernandez was run blocking on a total of 73% of the plays New England ran that he could have been in on.

So yes, it is precisely because they think he might block that forces a LB to cover him. If they didn't think he was going to block, they'd bring in an extra DB to cover him.

I get it you're looking at numbers from pff, but I'm talking about actually watching the games. Do you realize that you can pass block and run a route in the same play? That is what you see Hernandez do quite a bit. He will chip or block and then release into a route often.

Blocking 40% of the time isn't a lot. Which is my exact point with Escobar. He is primarily going to be used to run routes. And again to my point, Escobar isn't expected to be on the field every snap. So if that is people's expectations in judging him they are already off base.

He will be on the field when we go out into our 12 formation, which might be 50 percent of the time, it might be less than that. Then of that 50%, (giving him full snaps over hanna for this hypothetical), if he only blocks about 30-40% of the time, then that means he is only blocking in about 15-20 percent of our overall plays. Not a lot to get worked up over. And as he becomes a better blocker, you'll probably see him in the game a lot more.

But the reality is that he is going to be splitting 12 formation reps with Hanna. So if we're in 12 formation 50 percent of the time, and they split evenly 50-50, that means Escobar is in the game 25 percent of the time. Imagine that he is blocking 30-40 percent of the time, and then you only get 7.5 to 10 percent of our run blocking plays with Escobar in the game.

Not only is it fairly balanced, but as I said before, it doesn't require him to be the best blocker. You can put a DB on him, but that isn't going to degrade his ability to block them when the time comes. His ability to block a DB is going to be far greater than his ability to block a linebacker. Which still gives us the advantage in the running game that we seek.

 

[Galian Beast]

The 2TE strategy is to never take either of them off the field any more than you have to. Why would you? If you have 2TEs who are better receivers than your #3 WR, why would take either of them off the field?

In 2011, Gronkowski was in on 94% of the offensive snaps and Hernandez was in on 86% after accounting for the 2 games he missed.

If there was never a plan for him to be an every-down player, the Cowboys aren't running the 2TE offense correctly.

Your mistake is conflating us with the Patriots and exactly how they run things. They run things based on their personnel. They don't have a Dez Bryant and they don't have a Miles Austin. They had Wes Welker and some mid tier wide receivers. That is why they had to rely on their 2nd tight end so much.

Our team is not like that. Not only do we have Dez and Miles, but we drafted Terrance Williams. We're a much more wide receiver oriented team. That being said it's a 2 tight end system because that is our base offense, rather than using a fullback.

Your logic is like saying, we weren't a 3-4 because we were in the nickel defense half the time... Makes no sense.

 

[tupperware]

The 2TE strategy is to never take either of them off the field any more than you have to. Why would you? If you have 2TEs who are better receivers than your #3 WR, why would take either of them off the field?

In 2011, Gronkowski was in on 94% of the offensive snaps and Hernandez was in on 86% after accounting for the 2 games he missed.

If there was never a plan for him to be an every-down player, the Cowboys aren't running the 2TE offense correctly.

And also shouldn't be spending 2nd rounders on them.

 

[TwoDeep3]

How many players, especially ones in offensive skill positions come out of college and have strength issues?

If you recall, Witten was not and has never been a great blocker. Adequate, to be sure, but his movement before the snap problems stems from him having to get the correct angle to make the block.

Give Escobar a year in the weight room and a couple of years with Witten guiding him. Think of this as a guy like Tanney who is apprenticing for Romo's job.

Look at Dez. There may not be a player on this team that has more talent, yet it has taken him a while to get acclimated to the league and learn his job.

I see so many who are impatient.

Do farmer's plant seeds and then go out into the fields and whine the next morning and blame the seeds for being bad the very day after planting?

Sometimes you have to allow the player to grow into the job. This guy has skills, unlike that muddled mess drafted last year that has failed.

Give it time. There are still plenty of skill players on offense to get the job done if the line can consistently block.

 

[TwoDeep3]

And also shouldn't be spending 2nd rounders on them.

Or maybe they are planning for the days when Witten isn't with the team.

 

[TheCount]

I think the idea that we had some kind of master plan to camouflage the monster that is Escobar is completely overblown.

He was blocking because he sucks at it and we want him to get better. That still doesn't mean that when the season starts, he'll suddenly be Jimmy Graham.

He'll be worked in like any other rookie receiver but he'll still spend a lot of time doing what he's been practicing all preseason - blocking.