Scouting Report On Te Gavin Escobar

[NeonDeion21]

Before I begin with my scouting report of Dallas Cowboys’ second round draft pick Gavin Escobar, I must admit on draft day I wasn't thrilled with the pick. Why? Because I was/am convinced that second year player James Hanna has the chance to be the next Aaron Hernandez. So why use a valuable second round selection on a tight end when you already have Jason Witten and James Hanna? Why draft Gavin Escobar in the second round after the recent second round failures of Martellus Bennett and Anthony Fasano? Surely the Cowboys have more needs on their roster than a third tight end, right? These were all questions that were being asked on draft night.

The answer to these questions are simple; the league is evolving and tight ends are being valued higher than ever before. And the position that Gavin Escobar plays is en vogue in the NFL today with the likes of Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, and Aaron Hernandez. The tight end position is becoming more of a weapon than it was five-ten years ago. Once considered to be just undersized offensive lineman used to block on the edges, tight ends have become a mismatch nightmare for defenses. Too big for defensive backs and too quick and agile for linebackers, a tight end in the NFL today is like the queen piece in chess. Moving them all over the field to create the mismatch you want and exploit it.

When the Dallas Cowboys selected Gavin Escobar they drafted him to become a viable receiving threat that defenses must respect. In the past, the Cowboys have tried to pair Jason Witten with players who were blockers first, then receivers second. Dan Campbell, Anthony Fasano, Martellus Bennett and John Phillips never really scared a defense with their ability to make plays as receivers. With James Hanna and now Gavin Escobar, it is clear that the Cowboys philosophy towards tight ends has changed.

Here are Gavin Escobar's measurables compared to the other "move" tight ends in the NFL today:

Read the rest at: http://thelandryhat.com/2013/06/23/gavin-escobar/

 

[perrykemp]

Odd article -- they compare Escobar to a number of TEs, that frankly based to the measurables presented in the article, he isn't as good of an athlete as.

I guess I didn't realize his 40 time was 4.84.

 

[Angus]

Thanks for the post.

 

[MonsterD]

What jumps out right away is Escobar’s balance. He can jump and contort his body very well to attack the ball.-this is what he does, now someone has to teach him how to block.

 

[Tex]

Odd article -- they compare Escobar to a number of TEs, that frankly based to the measurables presented in the article, he isn't as good of an athlete as.

I guess I didn't realize his 40 time was 4.84.

Witten ran a 4.65 when he came out 10 years ago. I bet after 10 years of getting hit on he cant run much faster Escobar now and Witten still performs well. Its about finding the seams and running crisp shorter routes for what they want from him. And he can learn from the master. Thats wittens strength. They want escobar to slide across the middle and find the holes and use his body in the red zone. I am more worried about his blocking then his 40 time.

 

[RS12]

He is actually supposed to be good at using his hands to create seperation and finding soft spots in coverage, also has a huge catch radius because of his size.

 

[Section446]

I've got high hopes for the guy, but I still think that the pick could have been better used elsewhere.

 

[TheSport78]

I get the sense that Escobar was a total Garrett selection. Reportedly being that Garrett wanted to take the BPA in the 1st round (Floyd) and was overruled, I bet Jerry gave Jason the 2nd round pick.

 

[Eskimo]

If you look at the leaked board I think Escobar was our #2 prospect on the board at the time the pick was made at #25 overall. The player ahead of him on our board that we passed on was actually Terrance Williams who we were able to grab with the 49ers pick at the top of the 3rd round. I think the club correctly reasoned that he was the last of the good combo TEs that were plus receivers left on the board and there was a much higher chance that TWill could slide given the number of good WRs still left on the board.

Regardless, I am happy to have both of them on-board and am excited to see what he can do in the 12 personnel package opposite Witten.

Also, contrary to popular opinion, Witten can't play forever. Even though he is only 30 years old he has absorbed a lot of big hits and who knows how much longer he can be an elite threat. Given how integral pass catching TEs are to this offense it made sense to grab one when the price was right and give him a couple of years as Witten's backup so he can learn from a master before becoming the starter.

 

[jobberone]

Few things. Escobar plays a good bit faster than 4.85. He has faster 40s but I base this primarily on his tape which shows him making in flight adjustments to the ball and beating DBs to it. He also runs well with the DBs getting behind them albeit not huge separation. People have already mentioned his catch radius, adjustment to the ball, and hands.

Escobar is not the same kind of TE that Hanna is. They're both move TEs but I like to describe them further. I think Hanna is more of a F and H back/TE. I think he can play either role well and we don't have anyone else who can do that unless Escobar is a much better blocker than I see him as. I'm not sure Hanna is the down field threat that Escobar can be. I think Hanna and Witten both car run intermediate routes well and Witten can bust a route every now and then particularly seam routes. Even Witten has some top end speed if allowed to gain it. I think Hanna will be more versatile in being able to run not only mostly underneath stuff with some intermediate routes but also be a threat with short and intermediate slants as well as digs, wheels, and sprints. He's the fastest of the TEs we have. He's significantly faster than Witten.

I would call Escobar a TE/WR hybrid. I think he can play the H back role but more so as a receiver than a blocker although I have no doubt he'll get a chance to do that in TC including the F back role as well. I think he'll be a move a lot but I also think we'll see him split wide as a X and Z but maybe more often as a X or F. I'm sure he'll motion into those roles as well esp the X and F. Of course you'll see him as a Y in those plays as well but that's traditional. I just think he's going to be a real HA to matchup against DBs. He'll also be one for LBs but the faster LBs may have less trouble than smaller DBs particularly the shorter ones. Teams may be forced to put their taller DBs on him and that could draw them out of their normal defensive position. Slow LBs are going to be burned by both Hanna and Escobar.

I just don't think some recognize how well this kid finds a way to get to and catch a ball.

Hopefully I'm not wrong and jinxing him.

 

[xwalker]

I get the sense that Escobar was a total Garrett selection. Reportedly being that Garrett wanted to take the BPA in the 1st round (Floyd) and was overruled, I bet Jerry gave Jason the 2nd round pick.

I see that Eskimo beat me to it, but I was going to say the T. Williams and Escobar were 1 and 2 on the board at the time of the Escobar pick.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Hopefully Gavin Escobar can be Tony Romos Kelvin Martin. A guy that sets up makable 3rd down conversions a clutch player that moves the chains.

 

[iceman117]

I also was not big on the selection on draft night, but the more I think about it the more I am becoming a fan of the pick. The kid can cause major matchup problems because they can line him up as a WR/TE or out of the back field as an H-Back, So in any game they can get him going to where defenses have to pay close attention to him that just makes Bryant,Austin and Witten that much more dangerous. Also if Williams can be a threat as well this can be a top 3 offense in the NFL with the improvements they made to the OL.

 

[Hoofbite]

Hopefully Gavin Escobar can be Tony Romos Kelvin Martin. A guy that sets up makable 3rd down conversions a clutch player that moves the chains.

Isn't that what Witten does?

 

[Hoofbite]

I'm not a fan of the pick.

I've heard this song before and the results weren't impressive.

Show me he'll even be involved in more than half the snaps and I might get a little more excited. I think Sturm had the numbers for plays that Bennett was involved in and they were sad.

 

[Idgit]

I'm not a fan of the pick.

I've heard this song before and the results weren't impressive.

Show me he'll even be involved in more than half the snaps and I might get a little more excited. I think Sturm had the numbers for plays that Bennett was involved in and they were sad.

Meh. If you want to run a lot of 12 sets, you probably want to have 3 quality TEs on your roster. Especially when one of those guys is a mid round rookie who just started developing into a player deserving of offensive snaps late the season before and the other is a 30+ year old veteran of 10 seasons or so. I don't have a problem with them adding depth there. Though I'm surprised they did in in round 2.
Escobar was one of the few guys in the draft they considered capable of delivering starting snaps at the Y sometime this season, though. Coupled with the two third rounders, that's probably why they took him earlier than we fans would have expected.

 

[jobberone]

I'm not a fan of the pick.

I've heard this song before and the results weren't impressive.

Show me he'll even be involved in more than half the snaps and I might get a little more excited. I think Sturm had the numbers for plays that Bennett was involved in and they were sad.

Well, I'm hoping he takes some pressure off Witten's role as clutch receiver. I'm thinking of Escobar as more of the Jay Novacek outlet. Novacek was never a 'real' TE esp in that day. Escobar reminds me of Novacek although a little bit taller and bigger.

And I doubt he gets half the offensive snaps since he won't be playing the Y.

 

[morasp]

He is actually supposed to be good at using his hands to create seperation and finding soft spots in coverage, also has a huge catch radius because of his size.

The catch radius is a real edge for him especially against shorter defenders. I was surprised that our draft board had him rated higher than Zach Ertz who most people had as the number two TE.

 

[TheSport78]

If you look at the leaked board I think Escobar was our #2 prospect on the board at the time the pick was made at #25 overall. The player ahead of him on our board that we passed on was actually Terrance Williams who we were able to grab with the 49ers pick at the top of the 3rd round. I think the club correctly reasoned that he was the last of the good combo TEs that were plus receivers left on the board and there was a much higher chance that TWill could slide given the number of good WRs still left on the board.

Regardless, I am happy to have both of them on-board and am excited to see what he can do in the 12 personnel package opposite Witten.

Also, contrary to popular opinion, Witten can't play forever. Even though he is only 30 years old he has absorbed a lot of big hits and who knows how much longer he can be an elite threat. Given how integral pass catching TEs are to this offense it made sense to grab one when the price was right and give him a couple of years as Witten's backup so he can learn from a master before becoming the starter.

I definitely understand that, but the Cowboys do not always stick to their board, like the 1at round this year. I'm glad they did for the rest of the draft though.