News: Rico is gaining weight and hopes to get some playing time

BAT

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Rico has a habit of trying to convince himself he is better, different every year...id take a blocking tight end in the Nfl that can catch a few balls a game for first downs, and some mismatch tds...five total or more a season..

There are a few of those on roster already, find those kind of players every draft. Give me the playmaker. If he can block, even better.
 

Melonfeud

I Copy!,,, er,,,I guess,,,ah,,,maybe.
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That's a fact Jack. A couple of teams make stars out of their TE's like KC and NE and all of the sudden that's a critical factor for an offense. If Dak ends up making any TE well known, this team is going nowhere.

Posters are over-reacting to this position because of having Witten and him being the crutch of Romo and Dak. This team needs a TE that is an OL first and foremost, not a receiver.

Why do posters think NE featured the TE's with that two headed monster? Because Belichick is smart and TE's don't get paid as much as WR's.

The other issue and it's affected KC, NE and CIN are the concussions this position is getting.
I'd just ' GOOGLE-FOO'D' concussion/ position:
1cornerbacks
2 safeties
3receivers
4 tight ends
5
linebackers
6 running backs


*as of 2014*
 

Dre11

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Calm down people Martellus was 275 at the same height, Gathers isn’t that much bigger at 285, especially if it’s muscle.
 

Bleu Star

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Rico Gathers gaining weight, hopes to gain some playing time in Dallas
Posted by Michael David Smith on June 11, 2018, 12:02 PM EDT
gettyimages-830909174-e1528732909387.jpg

Getty Images

When the Cowboys spent a sixth-round draft pick on Rico Gathers in 2016, they knew it would take a while for him to develop: Gathers, who played basketball at Baylor, hadn’t played football since middle school.

But after two NFL seasons and zero regular-season games played, it’s time for Gathers to finally show what he can do on the field. Toward that end, Gathers said he is gaining weight to get into the 280-285 range, significantly bigger than the 265 he weighed in at a year ago, when he said he like he was getting pushed around too much in the preseason.

“Last year was a big adjustment,” Gathers said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I was going for more trying to be quicker, trying to be faster. But that hurt me in the blocking gamea lot where I felt like I was just a body, just a body catching a blow.”

A bigger Gathers will, he hopes, be a better Gathers.

“Now coming off, I’m delivering the blow,” Gathers said. “I’m delivering the shot.”

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett seems to like what he sees from Gathers during offseason practices.

“He’s a different player now than he was a couple of years ago when he first showed up,” Garrett said. “But he just needs to play more football.”

Gathers isn’t the tight end who will make people forget Jason Witten, but he’s hoping that he can at least get on the field at a position where the Cowboys are now trying to replace one of the best ever to play it.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...ht-hopes-to-gain-some-playing-time-in-dallas/



Submitted for your reading pleasure and discussion
Unleash the beast!

All aboard... The RICO HYPE TRAIN!

I'm taking any and all willing passengers. Let's go!
 

CouchCoach

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Yeah because teams featuring their TE in the passing attack never works. Sean Payton and Bill Belichick should listen to you.
Never said it never worked, does your dislike of me impair your reading and cognitive abilities?
 

FuzzyLumpkins

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Never said it never worked, does your dislike of me impair your reading and cognitive abilities?

Did you or did you not say that if Dak makes a TE well known the team is going nowhere?

Also, I am indifferent to you. You like to surround yourself with yes people or something?
 

SoupcanSam

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Why does he need to be 285 to be able to block? TEs do it lighter all around the league. He's already slow. I can't imagine him 20 lbs heavier. We got another Kendall Watkins on our hands here.

Thank God for Dalton Schultz.

Yeah and all he does is block well. So now we have two TE's with one talent without the other. Why cant we just combine these two fools to form a complete player at the position
 

RustyBourneHorse

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Yeah and all he does is block well. So now we have two TE's with one talent without the other. Why cant we just combine these two fools to form a complete player at the position

Well, who knows? It's certainly possible, if the reports are true, that we might jolly well have that with Jarwin.
 

xwalker

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Interesting. He does have a 2"-4" height advantage over most tight ends, which may help in the passing game but probably hurts in the blocking game in getting leverage. Especially when he is so raw in technique.
Gaining that much weight though, hopefully it was signed off by some staff member, whether it was the TE coach, or a strength training personnel.

He is 6'6-1/4" not 6-8 which was his listing on the Baylor Basketball team.
 

xwalker

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Rico Gathers gaining weight, hopes to gain some playing time in Dallas
Posted by Michael David Smith on June 11, 2018, 12:02 PM EDT
gettyimages-830909174-e1528732909387.jpg

Getty Images

When the Cowboys spent a sixth-round draft pick on Rico Gathers in 2016, they knew it would take a while for him to develop: Gathers, who played basketball at Baylor, hadn’t played football since middle school.

But after two NFL seasons and zero regular-season games played, it’s time for Gathers to finally show what he can do on the field. Toward that end, Gathers said he is gaining weight to get into the 280-285 range, significantly bigger than the 265 he weighed in at a year ago, when he said he like he was getting pushed around too much in the preseason.

“Last year was a big adjustment,” Gathers said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I was going for more trying to be quicker, trying to be faster. But that hurt me in the blocking gamea lot where I felt like I was just a body, just a body catching a blow.”

A bigger Gathers will, he hopes, be a better Gathers.

“Now coming off, I’m delivering the blow,” Gathers said. “I’m delivering the shot.”

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett seems to like what he sees from Gathers during offseason practices.

“He’s a different player now than he was a couple of years ago when he first showed up,” Garrett said. “But he just needs to play more football.”

Gathers isn’t the tight end who will make people forget Jason Witten, but he’s hoping that he can at least get on the field at a position where the Cowboys are now trying to replace one of the best ever to play it.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...ht-hopes-to-gain-some-playing-time-in-dallas/



Submitted for your reading pleasure and discussion
He tweeted that summer after he was drafted that he was up to 290 at one point.

Rico
Pre-Draft: 6'6-1/4", 273

MartyB
Pre-Draft: 6'6-1/8", 259
NFL listing: 275

Gronk
Pre-Draft: 6'6-1/4"
NFL listing: 265
 

Captain-Crash

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He is 6'6-1/4" not 6-8 which was his listing on the Baylor Basketball team.
dang I got him then, I'm 6' 6 and 1/2" and I'm still lean and mean. 252 . Dang I need to put some weight on and via for the position of "The Legend".. and I too played basketball..

Legend in the Making in my 50's... sign me up.. get me PED's too.
 

Jumbo075

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You saw it. I saw it. It wasn't rocket science.

Where were the coaches and trainers while Rico was figuring this out?

I think it was the coaches and trainers that told him he needs to be a better blocker to get on the field. And it is the trainers who are assisting him in bulking up.

I also don't think it is a surprise that he had trouble blocking at 265 lbs. He didn't learn how to use leverage in high school and college. I was a basketball player, and many of my friends were wrestlers. I weighed 165 in high school, and they wrestled at 126 and 132. And they could beat me easily in wrestling because they knew how to use leverage. But there was a friend who wrestled at 105 and actually wrestled in exhibition matches with the US Olympic wrestling team in 1983. I could easily beat him due to my size and superior power.

Gathers may be struggling with leverage, unlike guys like Schultz and Swaim, who've learned how to use leverage to overcome their lighter weights. But Gathers can compensate by having more bulk and power. And he can continue to develop his skills with using leverage in the mean time. It makes perfect sense to me for him to increase his bulk and power, at least in the short term, to give himself a better chance to make the team. He's already shown he can be a threat in the passing game, and the only thing holding him back is becoming adept in the running game.

I wish him well. I also don't understand those who are so quick to despise him for wanting to be a great player. I want all the Cowboys youngsters to strive to be great players. Some guys are more vocal about their goals, and Gathers is in that group. That's a personality thing, not a moral thing. If he can talk himself into being a great player (which means encouraging himself to keep developing his skills and motivation) then so be it. Some guys need to verbalize their goals to achieve them. If you choose to hold that against him, that says more about you than it does Gathers.

But Gathers was always a long-shot player. The Cowboys used their very last draft pick in 2016 to take a gamble on him. If it pays off great. If it doesn't, then that doesn't mean the Cowboys were stupid to take the risk, or that Gathers didn't give his best effort. Sometimes long shots don't pay off. And maybe Gathers will never develop to the point of being a great NFL player. I'm still rooting for him to be successful, and I'm not so jaded as to write off a player with his innate talent so quickly. I'm willing to be patient. If he's player #53 on the team, and can use his increased bulk to contribute on special teams, then I say keep him around another year, and let's see what happens.

I'm encouraged that he's trying to address his weakness in blocking. That's enough for me to stay on the Gathers bandwagon - even if I acknowledge he's still a long-shot to make the team.
 

Flamma

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Yes, because that will make up for the years he missed not playing football since middle school.

He's not big enough now to put a good block on someone? If he can't do it now, it's not the weight holding him back, it's his abilities as an athlete in that area. Focus on that, not his weight. Just because he hasn't played in awhile doesn't mean too much. You're not going to lose speed, your ability to catch or run patterns. It doesn't work that way, you're either good or you're not. Provided he kept in shape of course.
 
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