The Legend of Rico Gathers Grows

[waldoputty]

He makes mistakes which is to be expected, but I'm looking for physical ability at this point.

Once he gets his hands on a defender, he has excellect power to block them. His issue is anticipation where he sometimes over committs in one direction and the defender counters back to the other side.

i presume learning to anticipate defender can be learned.
he probably has sufficient reaction time since he can avoid tackles.

may be have him trying to tackle little shifting running backs as practice?

 

[RomoFor6]

He's going to be an absolute beast. He'll be better than Gronk. Bookmark this.

Then you wonder why we have the most hated fan base. How pissed would any of us be if we were browsing a forum and some chump said a 7th round pick a year into his career (who hasn't even played a regular season down) would be better than Witten? There would probably be a thread made here in reference to that post.

 

[waldoputty]

Then you wonder why we have the most hated fan base. How pissed would any of us be if we were browsing a forum and some chump said a 7th round pick a year into his career (who hasn't even played a regular season down) would be better than Witten? There would probably be a thread made here in reference to that post.

better to be hated than to be irrelevant

 

[RomoFor6]

I think it'll be with Dallas. The team knew what they were getting into when they drafted him.

I'm just not ready to start proclaiming him better than established players while he's still getting his feet under him.

Established players? That's would be a stretch in and of itself. Now imagine actually proclaiming him to be better than the GOAT TE?

 

[RomoFor6]

If Dallas implements a rub route for Bryant and where Rico comes across to shield Bryant's man this offense will be even more potent. Rico is a natural to run this route because its similar to a pick and roll in basketball.

I was thinking this to. Even as a decoy he would be so effective in certain situations.

 

[xwalker]

i presume learning to anticipate defender can be learned.
he probably has sufficient reaction time since he can avoid tackles.

may be have him trying to tackle little shifting running backs as practice?

There are many techniques involved in blocking. Many times it's OK to get beat to one side on running plays but you absolutely can't get beat to the other side. That's how they managed to make Doug Free useful in the running game. On runs inside of Free, he would actually bait the defender into "beating" him to the outside which caused the defender to take himself out of position.

On zone stretch type runs the timing of the block is often more critical than the actual block. You just need to slow the backside defenders down by a split second.

Rico is already stronger than Hanna, Swaim or even Witten primarily because he outweighs them by about 30 pounds.

Rico physically is very similar to MartyB who was a terrific inline blocker but was too un-focused to learn the scheme while he was here. He couldn't function as a move blocker because it was more complicated schematically. He could dominate in receiving drills in practice but he couldn't seem to bring that to games, again because he didn't know the scheme and was not a good route runner.

People like to praise Witten as a great blocker, but he was nowhere close to MartyB as an inline blocker because MB was just bigger and stronger. Witten's greatness is that his blocking relative to other top receiving TEs is very very good.

 

[waldoputty]

There are many techniques involved in blocking. Many times it's OK to get beat to one side on running plays but you absolutely can't get beat to the other side. That's how they managed to make Doug Free useful in the running game. On runs inside of Free, he would actually bait the defender into "beating" him to the outside which caused the defender to take himself out of position.

On zone stretch type runs the timing of the block is often more critical than the actual block. You just need to slow the backside defenders down by a split second.

Rico is already stronger than Hanna, Swaim or even Witten primarily because he outweighs them by about 30 pounds.

Rico physically is very similar to MartyB who was a terrific inline blocker but was too un-focused to learn the scheme while he was here. He couldn't function as a move blocker because it was more complicated schematically. He could dominate in receiving drills in practice but he couldn't seem to bring that to games, again because he didn't know the scheme and was not a good route runner.

People like to praise Witten as a great blocker, but he was nowhere close to MartyB as an inline blocker because MB was just bigger and stronger. Witten's greatness is that his blocking relative to other top receiving TEs is very very good.

thanks. in your view how is rico doing? what packages are his blocking acceptable in at the moment?

 

[xwalker]

Then you wonder why we have the most hated fan base. How pissed would any of us be if we were browsing a forum and some chump said a 7th round pick a year into his career (who hasn't even played a regular season down) would be better than Witten? There would probably be a thread made here in reference to that post.

I don't think he was 100% serious, not like Floaty saying that Moore would beat out Dak.

Rico does seem to have the physical ability to be as good as his brain eventually allows him to be.

 

[xwalker]

thanks. in your view how is rico doing? what packages are his blocking acceptable in at the moment?

He'll be better by the time the regular season is here. He literally gets better with every snap, IMO. Even if he loses the snap, it's something he can learn from.

I think he'll be able to be used the way they used MartyB when he was here. They used MartyB as an inline blocker but they still replaced him with the physically inferior John Phillips when they needed a move blocker or any time precision was more important than physical dominance.

In regards to receiving, there are a couple of routes that are not complicated, like just running a short route in the flat area. Neither Hanna or Swaim have been required to do much complicated route running but the coaches like them because they can execute blocks with precision due to excellent scheme knowledge and are OK as receivers on short routes.

The big question is whether he has learned enough to be used often in the red zone. They were even able to get some production from Escobar down there. At one time more than half of Escobar's catches were TDs.

 

[waldoputty]

He'll be better by the time the regular season is here. He literally gets better with every snap, IMO. Even if he loses the snap, it's something he can learn from.

I think he'll be able to be used the way they used MartyB when he was here. They used MartyB as an inline blocker but they still replaced him with the physically inferior John Phillips when they needed a move blocker or any time precision was more important than physical dominance.

In regards to receiving, there are a couple of routes that are not complicated, like just running a short route in the flat area. Neither Hanna or Swaim have been required to do much complicated route running but the coaches like them because they can execute blocks with precision due to excellent scheme knowledge and are OK as receivers on short routes.

The big question is whether he has learned enough to be used often in the red zone. They were even able to get some production from Escobar down there. At one time more than half of Escobar's catches were TDs.

good to hear your opinion.
what about his pass blocking?

 

[Them]

...Rico did fine in the HOF game...glad he seemed to be paying attention to his training...He moves very well for a little under 300 TE..
I've heard a few compare him to Antonio Gates....so he'll have to stay consistent ...Go Go Rico...

 

[xwalker]

good to hear your opinion.
what about his pass blocking?

It's a similar issue.

If he gets his hands on the defender, he'll likely win the rep. His issue is to avoid getting beat off the snap by using proper technique and improving his anticipation of what defenders are going to do. I think he has the required quickness, he just need to avoid over-committing to one side.

 

[waldoputty]

It's a similar issue.

If he gets his hands on the defender, he'll likely win the rep. His issue is to avoid getting beat off the snap by using proper technique and improving his anticipation of what defenders are going to do. I think he has the required quickness, he just need to avoid over-committing to one side.

well if the pass blocking is inline, you think the team would trust him enough?

if not, it would directly signal running play if he is lined up inline?

 

[dallasdave]

well if the pass blocking is inline, you think the team would trust him enough?

if not, it would directly signal running play if he is lined up inline?

yes

 

[dallasdave]

He makes the 53.

He plays a lot this year

 

[dallasdave]

thanks. in your view how is rico doing? what packages are his blocking acceptable in at the moment?

RICO is the Total Package

 

[haleyrules]

He plays a lot this year

yep. Its time to seriously test that position...and that is not meant to be disrespectful.

 

[dallasdave]

yep. Its time to seriously test that position...and that is not meant to be disrespectful.

I see a lot of double TE's

 

[haleyrules]

good to hear your opinion.
what about his pass blocking?

pass blocking requires playing time...

 

[haleyrules]

I see a lot of double TE's

Did ole Jerry boy hire Belichick??