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http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowb.../garrett-preaches-patience-with-gavin-escobar
IRVING, Texas -- Ten games into his NFL career and Gavin Escobar has four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.
When the Dallas Cowboys made him a somewhat surprisingly second-round pick, there were automatic expectations for Escobar. Though they knew he would need time to develop as a blocker -- something coach Jason Garrett has repeated as often as his “process” talk -- Escobar could be a factor in the passing game with the Cowboys using more two-tight-end sets.
Everybody is still waiting.
After playing at least 15 snaps in each of the first three games, Escobar has played fewer than 10 snaps in five of the last seven.
Escobar has had a difficult time getting playing time on a team stacked with playmakers.
“Certainly his production hasn’t been overwhelming,” Garrett said. “When we evaluate one of the things you try to do -- and is something I thought about a lot as a player, I emphasize this a lot to young players -- is if there’s an Escobar tape, and the Escobar tape has nothing to do with anybody else’s tape, these are Escobar’s plays, ‘How’d I do on my plays?’ If we evaluate the Escobar tape, he’s done some good things. And what we think as coaches is, ‘He’s done good things, let’s keep giving him more opportunities.’ One of the challenges that he has is Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, DeMarco Murray, Terrance Williams, Miles Austin, Cole Beasley -- when some of these other guys emerge, they’re competing for opportunities.”
There might not be enough footballs to go around, but then that speaks to the decision-making in taking a tight end in the second round. The Cowboys have wanted to be a heavy “12 personnel” team in the past. It never took off with Anthony Fasano. It never took off with Martellus Bennett.
Fasano and Bennett were second-round picks too.
This time it was supposed to be different. The two-tight-end grouping is the Cowboys’ base offensive set, but Escobar has not been able to beat out James Hanna.
“I think James does some things better at this point,” Garrett said. “His experience certainly helps him. If you look at Hanna from last year, he came in as a sixth-round pick middle of the year last year. He kind of started to emerge as a guy who could do some stuff for us and made some plays down the stretch. Development happens and those opportunities happen and each one of the pieces we have to get going a little bit more.”
When they picked Travis Frederick in the first round, eyebrows were raised, but Frederick’s strong play has justified the decision. Escobar’s lack of production just makes it seem as if the Cowboys have missed on a second-round pick when they had other needs to fill.
Garrett chose to dip into the Cowboys’ archives for those who want instant success from a second-round pick.
“Darren Woodson was a special-teams player his first year,” Garrett said of the Cowboys’ No. 2 pick in 1992. “He was taken in the second round. You’re arguing my point. He was a special-teams player, and he went on to have one of the great careers. So just because right at this moment the guy doesn’t come in and take the league by storm ... [Escobar] has done a nice job for us with the opportunities we’ve given him. We’re going to keep growing those opportunities and hopefully he continues to get better and better and better.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/da...2nd-round-te-gavin-escobar-yet-to-pan-out.ece
IRVING — “Darren Woodson was a special teams player in his rookie season and went on to be a great player in the league.”
Those words poured from Jason Garrett’s lips the other day when the name of rookie tight end Gavin Escobar crept into the conversation.
Obviously, the Cowboys coach had been studying up on the history of the franchise’s draft picks for just such a moment.
Certainly, Garrett could not have been implying … and nobody in his right mind would infer any comparison between the still wet-behind-the-ears Escobar and one of the Cowboys’ all-time greats.
Still, it was a jarring moment. Woodson was Garrett’s go-to rebuttal when questioned about the lack of playing time and production from tight end Escobar, the Cowboys’ second-round pick in the 2013 draft.
True, Woodson, a second-round pick, played strong safety behind Thomas Everett and James Washington in 1992, his first season with the Cowboys.
It is also true that Woodson was actually the fourth player the team selected in the 1992 draft. Before they made Woodson the draft’s 37th overall pick, the Cowboys had selected cornerback Kevin Smith at No. 17, linebacker Robert Jones at No. 24 and wide receiver Jimmy Smith at No. 36. Recall that it was a pre-salary-cap era in which owner Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson collected draft picks as if they were disposable caps from Johnson’s beloved stash of Heineken bottles.
And one more thing: The Cowboys won the Super Bowl to end that 1992 season. Through 10 games, they were 9-1 with Woodson on the bench and on special teams.
As the Cowboys take their bye-week respite in this 5-5 season, now is as a good a time as any to review the contributions of the seven draft selections they made in late April.
The lead to any look at the 2013 draft has to focus on Escobar, a likeable rookie who started six of 13 games and caught 42 passes in his senior season at San Diego State.
Draft picks in the salary-cap era are far more precious than they were two decades ago. When Escobar was taken at No. 47 with the blessing of special scout Tony Romo, who was brought in to study his film, it was said his 6-6, 250-pound frame would make him a game changer in the passing game.
“Does [he] add a dimension that we will do some things differently than before?” owner Jerry Jones asked on draft day. “The answer is yes.”
Garrett called Escobar a “guy who can come in and really make a difference for us.”
Through 10 games, Escobar has four receptions for 65 yards and one touchdown. He hasn’t caught a pass since the fifth game of the season, on Oct. 5 against Denver. On a team desperate for depth, Escobar, who doesn’t play special teams, has been a nonfactor.
Instead of playing in a two-tight end offense with Jason Witten, he has fallen on the depth chart behind James Hanna, a sixth-round pick in 2012.
Garrett pointed out that with Witten, Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray, plus the emerging Terrance Williams in place of Miles Austin, Escobar has to wait his turn to become part of the offense.
“He’s a guy we’d like to get more involved, but when he’s gotten some opportunities he’s certainly handled them well,” Garrett said.
Escobar may someday evolve into a star. For now, however, mentioning him in the same sentence as Woodson looks to be a stretch.
For the record, in his 12 Cowboys seasons, Woodson started 162 games, was selected to five Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro three times. Eventually, he’s likely to edge his way into the franchise’s Ring of Honor.
If any of the Cowboys’ 2013 picks has anywhere near the career that Woodson had, this draft class will someday be seen in a far different light.
IRVING, Texas -- Ten games into his NFL career and Gavin Escobar has four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.
When the Dallas Cowboys made him a somewhat surprisingly second-round pick, there were automatic expectations for Escobar. Though they knew he would need time to develop as a blocker -- something coach Jason Garrett has repeated as often as his “process” talk -- Escobar could be a factor in the passing game with the Cowboys using more two-tight-end sets.
Everybody is still waiting.
After playing at least 15 snaps in each of the first three games, Escobar has played fewer than 10 snaps in five of the last seven.
Escobar has had a difficult time getting playing time on a team stacked with playmakers.
“Certainly his production hasn’t been overwhelming,” Garrett said. “When we evaluate one of the things you try to do -- and is something I thought about a lot as a player, I emphasize this a lot to young players -- is if there’s an Escobar tape, and the Escobar tape has nothing to do with anybody else’s tape, these are Escobar’s plays, ‘How’d I do on my plays?’ If we evaluate the Escobar tape, he’s done some good things. And what we think as coaches is, ‘He’s done good things, let’s keep giving him more opportunities.’ One of the challenges that he has is Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, DeMarco Murray, Terrance Williams, Miles Austin, Cole Beasley -- when some of these other guys emerge, they’re competing for opportunities.”
There might not be enough footballs to go around, but then that speaks to the decision-making in taking a tight end in the second round. The Cowboys have wanted to be a heavy “12 personnel” team in the past. It never took off with Anthony Fasano. It never took off with Martellus Bennett.
Fasano and Bennett were second-round picks too.
This time it was supposed to be different. The two-tight-end grouping is the Cowboys’ base offensive set, but Escobar has not been able to beat out James Hanna.
“I think James does some things better at this point,” Garrett said. “His experience certainly helps him. If you look at Hanna from last year, he came in as a sixth-round pick middle of the year last year. He kind of started to emerge as a guy who could do some stuff for us and made some plays down the stretch. Development happens and those opportunities happen and each one of the pieces we have to get going a little bit more.”
When they picked Travis Frederick in the first round, eyebrows were raised, but Frederick’s strong play has justified the decision. Escobar’s lack of production just makes it seem as if the Cowboys have missed on a second-round pick when they had other needs to fill.
Garrett chose to dip into the Cowboys’ archives for those who want instant success from a second-round pick.
“Darren Woodson was a special-teams player his first year,” Garrett said of the Cowboys’ No. 2 pick in 1992. “He was taken in the second round. You’re arguing my point. He was a special-teams player, and he went on to have one of the great careers. So just because right at this moment the guy doesn’t come in and take the league by storm ... [Escobar] has done a nice job for us with the opportunities we’ve given him. We’re going to keep growing those opportunities and hopefully he continues to get better and better and better.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/da...2nd-round-te-gavin-escobar-yet-to-pan-out.ece
IRVING — “Darren Woodson was a special teams player in his rookie season and went on to be a great player in the league.”
Those words poured from Jason Garrett’s lips the other day when the name of rookie tight end Gavin Escobar crept into the conversation.
Obviously, the Cowboys coach had been studying up on the history of the franchise’s draft picks for just such a moment.
Certainly, Garrett could not have been implying … and nobody in his right mind would infer any comparison between the still wet-behind-the-ears Escobar and one of the Cowboys’ all-time greats.
Still, it was a jarring moment. Woodson was Garrett’s go-to rebuttal when questioned about the lack of playing time and production from tight end Escobar, the Cowboys’ second-round pick in the 2013 draft.
True, Woodson, a second-round pick, played strong safety behind Thomas Everett and James Washington in 1992, his first season with the Cowboys.
It is also true that Woodson was actually the fourth player the team selected in the 1992 draft. Before they made Woodson the draft’s 37th overall pick, the Cowboys had selected cornerback Kevin Smith at No. 17, linebacker Robert Jones at No. 24 and wide receiver Jimmy Smith at No. 36. Recall that it was a pre-salary-cap era in which owner Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson collected draft picks as if they were disposable caps from Johnson’s beloved stash of Heineken bottles.
And one more thing: The Cowboys won the Super Bowl to end that 1992 season. Through 10 games, they were 9-1 with Woodson on the bench and on special teams.
As the Cowboys take their bye-week respite in this 5-5 season, now is as a good a time as any to review the contributions of the seven draft selections they made in late April.
The lead to any look at the 2013 draft has to focus on Escobar, a likeable rookie who started six of 13 games and caught 42 passes in his senior season at San Diego State.
Draft picks in the salary-cap era are far more precious than they were two decades ago. When Escobar was taken at No. 47 with the blessing of special scout Tony Romo, who was brought in to study his film, it was said his 6-6, 250-pound frame would make him a game changer in the passing game.
“Does [he] add a dimension that we will do some things differently than before?” owner Jerry Jones asked on draft day. “The answer is yes.”
Garrett called Escobar a “guy who can come in and really make a difference for us.”
Through 10 games, Escobar has four receptions for 65 yards and one touchdown. He hasn’t caught a pass since the fifth game of the season, on Oct. 5 against Denver. On a team desperate for depth, Escobar, who doesn’t play special teams, has been a nonfactor.
Instead of playing in a two-tight end offense with Jason Witten, he has fallen on the depth chart behind James Hanna, a sixth-round pick in 2012.
Garrett pointed out that with Witten, Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray, plus the emerging Terrance Williams in place of Miles Austin, Escobar has to wait his turn to become part of the offense.
“He’s a guy we’d like to get more involved, but when he’s gotten some opportunities he’s certainly handled them well,” Garrett said.
Escobar may someday evolve into a star. For now, however, mentioning him in the same sentence as Woodson looks to be a stretch.
For the record, in his 12 Cowboys seasons, Woodson started 162 games, was selected to five Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro three times. Eventually, he’s likely to edge his way into the franchise’s Ring of Honor.
If any of the Cowboys’ 2013 picks has anywhere near the career that Woodson had, this draft class will someday be seen in a far different light.
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