Twitter: Rico throws shade at Witt?

[AbeBeta]

This is true. Witten was clearly still better than anybody on the roster.

The roster after Witten left last year, was made up of 2 undrafted free agents, a 6th round basketball player project, and a 4th round rookie.

The chances of any of those players, being anywhere near as good as, even an old, Hall of famer, was very very very slim.
And I kind of like jarwin and Schultz ability. But let’s be real. We will be lucky if they end up half as good as Witt.

If someone is "half as good as Witten" that would mean around 550 career receptions, five or six probowls, and one first team all pro.

Half of Witten is still a heck of a contributor.

 

[xwalker]

They used Bennett the same way. He was the team's best blocker and most athletic talent at TE, but he had not grasp the position (so they said), ..Sounds familiar does it?

Rico Gathers won Mr. Basketball in the state of LA. LA per capita puts the most football players in the NFL. His brother Greg was a starting DE in the ACC, former All American, and was the sack leader at GTech. So he knows football. Because his brother had kidney issues and his cousin Hank Gathers did was a college basketball great, he was pushed to basketball.

If you can not find a position for this kind of God given athlete, you do not know talent or how to coach:

Pre-draft measurables
HtWtArm lengthHand size40-yard dash10-yd split20-yd split20-ss3-coneVert jumpBroadBP​

6 ft 6 1⁄4 in
(1.99 m)273 lb
(124 kg)35 in
(0.89 m)11.2 in
(0.28 m)4.66 s1.71 s2.79 s4.56 s34.5 in
(0.88 m)9 ft 7 in
(2.92 m)16 reps
All values from Baylor pro day.[4]
​

I saw MartyB in person at training camp and he was one of the most impressive players in practice if you just focused on the "highlights".

He could dominate in receiving drills against Safeties then go to the blocking drills with the OLine and be very good in 1-on-1 drills against DLinemen.

The issue was that he moped around most of the time like expending any effort was killing him.

While great in drills some days (other days he didn't try), in full team action he never knew where to line up and continually made mistakes with the coaches and other players constantly telling him what he should have done.

In games it was similar. He was great in 1-on-1 inline blocking where he just had to block the guy in front of him with minimal thought.

When they wanted the TE to function as a move-TE (H-Back, or any type of movement) they used John Phillips who himself said he physically couldn't match-up with MartyB in 1-on-1 blocking.

As a receiver in games MartyB was all over the place in routes and we could often see Romo telling him where to line up.

MartyB carved out a decent career with his best year being 2014 in Chicago. His career high was 910 yards in a season and 7 TDs in a season (For reference Gronk's career highs were 1327 yards and 17 TDs).

MartyB probably had as much physical talent (bigger with similar speed) as Gronkowski but he just didn't have the mental-makeup to accept coaching to become an elite player.


Rico has similarities to MartyB. Very big and athletic. He can block really well in 1-on-1 drills but in full team practices or games he makes many mistakes. He has flashed as receiver but last year he looked sluggish from speed perspective. He said he was keeping his weight lower than it had been but he just didn't "look" as athletic in training camp or in games as he had previously.

Many offenses like the Rams have trended towards a focus on precision blocking more than brute force blocking, especially by TEs and WRs.

The Cowboys have also preferred precision blocker at TE over brute force blockers. They've had some TE in training camp over the years that were excellent point of attach blockers but made too many mistakes and didn't make the roster. They used players like James Hanna who was a precision type blocker that knew the scheme and could function in any of the blocking roles. He was never much of a threat as a receiver despite excellent speed.

In 2018 after Swaim was out, Jarwin was the receiving TE, Schultz was the blocking TE and Rico was the 3rd TE. Schultz ended up playing double the snaps of Rico.


For Rico Fan Boyz:
There is no way the Cowboys prioritized a rookie 4th round pick over Rico who they had already paid about 1M for two years of playing zero regular season games prior to 2018.


For Rico Critics:
Rico is about on pace with what should be expected of a player that didn't play college football. The 1st two years with the Cowboys being his replacement for college and 2018 being the equivalent of his rookie season (His 1st season playing any snaps in real games).

The Cowboys developed college basketball player Jermey Parnell into an NFL starter (for another team). Parnell was a quality backup OT but it was his 4th season when he become The Swing Tackle for the Cowboys.

Rico still has a chance in 2019 to do something. The 2019 training camp should be considered equivalent of a normal 2nd year player that experienced some real game action as a rookie.

Obviously the odds are against him with Jarwin and Scultz both being ahead of him on the depth chart in 2018. Witten is back but it's not Witten that Rico is competing against. Rico needs to compete with Jarwin as a receiver or Schultz as a blocker.

 

[glimmerman]

THe point I was making is. The guys behind Witten just aren’t that good.

That’s a fact.

Yes Witten shouldn’t call the shots. But we don’t have Zach ertz sitting on the bench behind him.

I don't disagree with you. But these youngsters better have one heck of a TC. You aint gonna unseat Witten from his spot. And will be hard to take reps away from him when he wont take himself off the field.

 

[erod]

Rico should be mowing Witten's grass.

 

[xwalker]

I agree, but if the others don't get a chance then we wont know.. Last year Swaim got hurt and we had nothing, finally they started to develop towards the end of the year and I thought Jarwin really come on.. the giants game gave him a lot of confidence, Dak also.. I don't want to see out TE group go backwards because Witten don't want to pull himself. This is where JG needs step in. I hope he does, with a new OC JG is gonna have to be even more involved. This is your job on the line JG, time to step it up..

Jarwin had more targets in less snaps played than Swaim.

Rico might need to catch the ball when targeted and learn to play special teams...


2018 Regular Season
Targets
Swaim 32
Jarwin 36
Schultz 17
Rico 17

Catch%
Swaim 81%
Jarwin 75%
Schultz 71%
Rico 43%

Snaps Played:

 

[charron]

in the NFL you have to outwork everyone else especially if you go undrafted. Heath isn't the best safety in the league but he earned the coaches trust by actually knowing the plays 1st then showed them on the field. Rico...its 3 years and you know 2 plays dude so theres that and. Dak needs skill players who make him look good, he isn't the guy who can make skill players look better than they are so you are on the wrong team. Ask to get cut and walk onto the pats team if you got the stones to bet on yourself.

 

[TheCount]

"I can't control where I'm at". Actually, you can, by making plays when you're out on the field. I can't wait until this bum is gone. Knowing us, we'll hang onto him for another 3-4 years.

lol, how many catches do you think Rico needs to get between now and the regular season to start over Jason Witten?

 

[Cowfan75]

lol, how many catches do you think Rico needs to get between now and the regular season to start over Jason Witten?

He shouldn't be starting over any of our TEs, because he's shown with the chances he has had that he shouldn't be on the team.

 

[G2]

Plant corn get corn.

 

[Big_D]

He shouldn't be starting over any of our TEs, because he's shown with the chances he has had that he shouldn't be on the team.

3 receptions on 7 targets.The team needs to slow down with those chances.

 

[Cowfan75]

3 receptions on 7 targets.The team needs to slow down with those chances.

No, the team needs to completely eliminate those chances.

 

[Whirlwin]

Big deal. Rico is right. There is favoritism on this team and organization. It's been going on for decades.

I can't believe all you people that buy into a propaganda.

 

[Whirlwin]

That is why this team hasnt won anything in 25 years.

You really don't get it do you. Blame the right guy why we haven't won in the last 20 years

 

[Big_D]

No, the team needs to completely eliminate those chances.

disagree. He did well blocking and should have gotten more opportunities in the passing game. Specially in the redzone where the offense stalled repeatedly..

 

[America's Cowboy]

I can't believe all you people that buy into a propaganda.

I love propaganda.

 

[America's Cowboy]

disagree. He did well blocking and should have gotten more opportunities in the passing game. Specially in the redzone where the offense stalled repeatedly..

Totally agree. The film shows the same.

 

[America's Cowboy]

3 receptions on 7 targets.The team needs to slow down with those chances.

Out of those 7 targets where Rico only caught 3, 3 of those incompletions were totally Dak's fault!



Had Dak thrown Rico the ball accurately, Rico would have ended up with 6 out of 7 catches thrown to him, along with 2 TDs. EVERYONE critizing Rico would be singing a different tune right now. Too bad they can't be honest with what the tape shows.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Tell me team where favoritism doesn't exist...

Sadly, you are right. It exists everywhere and in every kind of work.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Getting caught by the cops sitting on a bench in the middle of the night smoking dope helps a lot with that favoritism thing.

Yes, you're right. Rico only hurt himself by doing that crap in public.

 

[Big_D]

Out of those 7 targets where Rico only caught 3, 3 of those incompletions were totally Dak's fault!



Had Dak thrown Rico the ball accurately, Rico would have ended up with 6 out of 7 catches thrown to him, along with 2 TDs. EVERYONE critizing Rico would be singing a different tune right now. Too bad they can't be honest with what the tape shows.

I personally think he's made great progress for a guy who never played a down of college football. Solid hands and excellent size who has gotten much better at blocking which was a weakness early on.