The scouting report on Taco is much different than what many people are claiming

[xwalker]

The scouting report on Taco is much different than what many people are claiming:

From NFL.com:
Rare combination of size, length and athletic traits as a rusher. Long-levered frame with athletic, knotted calves. Brings freaky athletic traits to table and is still growing into his body. Flashes instant reaction time off snap and up the field thanks to his twitch. Has enough upfield juice to push offensive tackles into hasty retreat. Generates pop through speed-to-power element. Very good flexibility throughout. Able to sink and swerve around corner if he gets early lead in race to the edge. Possesses hip swivel combined with shoulder turn to slip and flip around the corner of an offensive tackle he's engaged with as a pass rusher. Rushes with forward lean that keeps his momentum downhill. Uses rip-and-stab move and an ominous spin move that could turn into a dominant rush trait in the NFL. Elongated lateral slides can open into sprint very quickly to chase run play bouncing outside. Length gives him a shot at dramatically increasing his play-making ability against the run. Hand usage is improving.

 

[waldoputty]

The scouting report on Taco is much different than what many people are claiming:

From NFL.com:
Rare combination of size, length and athletic traits as a rusher. Long-levered frame with athletic, knotted calves. Brings freaky athletic traits to table and is still growing into his body. Flashes instant reaction time off snap and up the field thanks to his twitch. Has enough upfield juice to push offensive tackles into hasty retreat. Generates pop through speed-to-power element. Very good flexibility throughout. Able to sink and swerve around corner if he gets early lead in race to the edge. Possesses hip swivel combined with shoulder turn to slip and flip around the corner of an offensive tackle he's engaged with as a pass rusher. Rushes with forward lean that keeps his momentum downhill. Uses rip-and-stab move and an ominous spin move that could turn into a dominant rush trait in the NFL. Elongated lateral slides can open into sprint very quickly to chase run play bouncing outside. Length gives him a shot at dramatically increasing his play-making ability against the run. Hand usage is improving.

lets give it at least a couple weeks for the rookie ...

 

[Denim Chicken]

The scouting report on Taco is much different than what many people are claiming:

From NFL.com:
Rare combination of size, length and athletic traits as a rusher. Long-levered frame with athletic, knotted calves. Brings freaky athletic traits to table and is still growing into his body. Flashes instant reaction time off snap and up the field thanks to his twitch. Has enough upfield juice to push offensive tackles into hasty retreat. Generates pop through speed-to-power element. Very good flexibility throughout. Able to sink and swerve around corner if he gets early lead in race to the edge. Possesses hip swivel combined with shoulder turn to slip and flip around the corner of an offensive tackle he's engaged with as a pass rusher. Rushes with forward lean that keeps his momentum downhill. Uses rip-and-stab move and an ominous spin move that could turn into a dominant rush trait in the NFL. Elongated lateral slides can open into sprint very quickly to chase run play bouncing outside. Length gives him a shot at dramatically increasing his play-making ability against the run. Hand usage is improving.

To be fair, there was also this:

Held back by his inconsistent play speed

 

[bayeslife]

He's not slow but he's gonna look that way at first without being able to use his length correctly. He definitely doesn't have pure speed to just run around tackles but you can see he has he quick twitch.

 

[zrinkill]

Jeebus people ........ Even Demarcus Ware looked bad his first few full pad practices against a line that was nothing like this one ......

These vets are not gonna let these kids outdue them and they will use every trick they know to stop it ........ the kids will learn and adjust.

 

[Direwolf63]

People are deawing conclusions on Taco while he's going up against the best LT in football and potentialy on of the best RT's. Frankly, if Taco had been winning these battles I would have been worried about Smith and Collins.

I see Taco as an 8 sack guy who is strong against the run. And thats OK for a #28 pick. But when he goes up against Smith and Collins, he isn't going to win many battles.

 

[Silver Surfer]

Scouting reports at this point mean nothing.... so do practice reports.... once the season gets started, we'll know soon enough if the kid can play or not.

 

[jazzcat22]

When Willie McGinnest was interviewing Jerry a few night sago. He asked about Taco, what they seen and liked.
Jerry said, and yes Jerry knows more about football and his players than we all think we do...he said, Taco, for his size has great balance. and he meant balance of his body in relation to itself. For his size, height and such, his arm length and all that is proportional and he has great flexibility for that.

or something to this effect anyway

 

[tyke1doe]

People are deawing conclusions on Taco while he's going up against the best LT in football and potentialy on of the best RT's. Frankly, if Taco had been winning these battles I would have been worried about Smith and Collins.

I see Taco as an 8 sack guy who is strong against the run. And thats OK for a #28 pick. But when he goes up against Smith and Collins, he isn't going to win many battles.

Especially as a rookie who has to learn to play the game at the professional level.

Unrealistic expectations, much?

 

[jday]

The scouting report on Taco is much different than what many people are claiming:

From NFL.com:
Rare combination of size, length and athletic traits as a rusher. Long-levered frame with athletic, knotted calves. Brings freaky athletic traits to table and is still growing into his body. Flashes instant reaction time off snap and up the field thanks to his twitch. Has enough upfield juice to push offensive tackles into hasty retreat. Generates pop through speed-to-power element. Very good flexibility throughout. Able to sink and swerve around corner if he gets early lead in race to the edge. Possesses hip swivel combined with shoulder turn to slip and flip around the corner of an offensive tackle he's engaged with as a pass rusher. Rushes with forward lean that keeps his momentum downhill. Uses rip-and-stab move and an ominous spin move that could turn into a dominant rush trait in the NFL. Elongated lateral slides can open into sprint very quickly to chase run play bouncing outside. Length gives him a shot at dramatically increasing his play-making ability against the run. Hand usage is improving.

To be fair, he is going against a completely different level of talent now versus what he was when the scout wrote this.

 

[Denim Chicken]

To be fair, he is going against a completely different level of talent now versus what he was when the scout wrote this.

As is every rookie.

 

[CooterBrown]

People are deawing conclusions on Taco while he's going up against the best LT in football and potentialy on of the best RT's. Frankly, if Taco had been winning these battles I would have been worried about Smith and Collins.

I see Taco as an 8 sack guy who is strong against the run. And thats OK for a #28 pick. But when he goes up against Smith and Collins, he isn't going to win many battles.

Simple fact is that most DE don't win many battles against offensive NFL tackles. If a player has one sack per game he is an all-pro. Guessing on average that an opponent passes 32 times. (Yes, I'm too lazy to look up the exact number). That means the tackle won 31 of the 32 times. pretty simplistic reasoning, but if a DE can win one time in 32 tries, he's doing great. Too early to say how any of them are doing or project their career for boom or bust.

 

[dallasdave]

Scouting reports at this point mean nothing.... so do practice reports.... once the season gets started, we'll know soon enough if the kid can play or not.

That is a fact !!!

 

[waldoputty]

People are deawing conclusions on Taco while he's going up against the best LT in football and potentialy on of the best RT's. Frankly, if Taco had been winning these battles I would have been worried about Smith and Collins.

I see Taco as an 8 sack guy who is strong against the run. And thats OK for a #28 pick. But when he goes up against Smith and Collins, he isn't going to win many battles.

if he is an 8 sack guy, we celebrate

 

[Toruk_Makto]

The scouting report on Taco is much different than what many people are claiming:

From NFL.com:
Rare combination of size, length and athletic traits as a rusher. Long-levered frame with athletic, knotted calves. Brings freaky athletic traits to table and is still growing into his body. Flashes instant reaction time off snap and up the field thanks to his twitch. Has enough upfield juice to push offensive tackles into hasty retreat. Generates pop through speed-to-power element. Very good flexibility throughout. Able to sink and swerve around corner if he gets early lead in race to the edge. Possesses hip swivel combined with shoulder turn to slip and flip around the corner of an offensive tackle he's engaged with as a pass rusher. Rushes with forward lean that keeps his momentum downhill. Uses rip-and-stab move and an ominous spin move that could turn into a dominant rush trait in the NFL. Elongated lateral slides can open into sprint very quickly to chase run play bouncing outside. Length gives him a shot at dramatically increasing his play-making ability against the run. Hand usage is improving.

So you give exactly one line for dispute?

A couple would have been nice.

 

[erod]

...and was the 8th defensive lineman taken in the draft because he disappeared from games in college.

Considered by most scouts as a 3-4 defensive end.

 

[visionary]

Let's not be in a hurry to judge

This year has to be about consistent effort and desire to learn. If he gives us that, I'll be satisfied

 

[CATCH17]

To me... He looked like a poor man's Joey Bosa coming out of Michigan.

A lot of their measurables are similar as well.


We will see with him. At worst he is going to be a solid piece that fits up and down the line.



One thing does stand out though in these videos... He needs as much work on his strength as he does with his technique.

I imagine the jump from year 1 to year 2 is going to be significant with Taco.

 

[ShiningStar]

way to early. Dallas got themselves into this, they have to let it play out regardless. It was a risk and Rod will get the best out of him, reports be damned. Anyone, anyone with all their stats didnt think last years defense was even on par and at times it got the job done. Rod doesnt work with numbers, he gets the most out of his players and system. People buy into whatever they want to. The product on the field may not be actual representation of your perception.

We ll see what we get and nothing will change. We went from "get rid of x player" to "why did we draft this guy" This is what the team needed, its what it got, the rest is up to the coaches. I have faith Rod will get the most out of him. The experts job is done, they are on to next year and the rest is what reality will dole out. Believe me, at the end of the day reality (not ours) has the last say.

 

[gmoney112]

You can't take the NFL.com reports seriously. Actually on 2nd read, this is a fairly decent one. Some are just laughably bad.

Its also usually the same people who have never tried to watch a game tape in their lives that talk completely out their ***.

Which is funny, because there's a handful of guys here that contribute observations that are actually pretty decent.

Taco is a good 4-3 DE. He has length, he has surprising "bend"(the dumbest term ever invented) for his size, and when he anticipates the snap count he was winning that battle nearly every time. His first step was one of the best in this class when he jumped the snap. It looked like he played a fair bit of option read and react 4-3 assignments because he'd intentionally be a little late coming off.