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TE Rico Gathers, Free Agent (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Faust
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Snorkelson
Footballguy
Football Jones
Footballguy
The bottom line is a tremendous number of people are interested in Rico as a stash or simply as a prospect from an NFL fan standpoint. He may or may not pan out, but a player with his upside draws a lot of attention.
You've posted at least a dozen times criticizing those who discuss him. Surely you have better & more productive things to do. It's honestly the weirdest thing I've ever seen on this board.
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steelers1080
Footballguy
So, is there a reason he's not getting more opportunity? He seemed to flash every time he got a chance last year, but then he got hurt. Is he still hurt, or has he had issues learning the playbook? It seems odd that a TE needy team isn't working a potential playmaker into the offense, but I might be missing something. I haven't studied his game tape, just remembered people talking about him last year, so maybe it's just that he's not good at football and is just big.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
It’s some weird inferiority complex. Look at the title of their own thread. Tells you everything you need to know. They’re obsessed and they don’t appear to even know it.
How do we search for a specific word inside a specific thread? Would be interesting to see how many times they’ve mentioned “Dallas” in their own thread.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
It’s been discussed here but basically the Cowboys ask a lot of their TE and like their TE to fit the prototype of a TE from 1970.
Rico needs to know when to block, who to block, when to go out and depending on the defense,know which rout to run.
Also, he doesn’t play special teams.
I think you’re gonna see him ply a lot against Arizona and if he produces he’s on th team.
Chaka
Footballguy
Deamon
Footballguy
Quite a few because you are in that thread so often. I'm sorry you missed out on DG.
This has nothing to do with Dallas or Philly. Many neutral fans are also confused as to why there is this much talk about a dude that isn't even gonna make an nfl roster this season because he's NOT A GOOD ENOUGH NFL PLAYER TO DO SO. You're so obsessed with this "potential" and thinking you're smarter than any nfl gm who doesn't think he's good enough to play. It takes more than physical talent to succeed, and if you're evaluating this guy you have to look at his extremely underwhelming intangibles and struggles on other areas of the field and finally come to terms that he's just not very good and that it's okay to admit being wrong on your overall evaluations of a guy. He sucks.
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
I'd bet that if he's released by the Cowboys due to his lack of blocking ability, there will be several teams interested in bringing him on. Not to be their starter. The difference is that those teams would see him strictly as a weapon in the passing game and the red zone with the ability to create mismatches lining up in the slot or even out wide in obvious or probable passing situations. Just because he doesn't fit with what the Cowboys want in their tight ends doesn't mean a different style of offense couldn't use him effectively.
The Cowboys' bread is buttered with the running game. But there are far more explosive offenses out there with coaches who'd be better able to take advantage of what Gathers does bring to the table rather than limiting him because of what he doesn't.
He has a skillset that can make an impact in a situational role, and there are some teams that would both value and utilize that. The Cowboys don't sound like one of them though.
The Cowboys' bread is buttered with the running game. But there are far more explosive offenses out there with coaches who'd be better able to take advantage of what Gathers does bring to the table rather than limiting him because of what he doesn't.
He has a skillset that can make an impact in a situational role, and there are some teams that would both value and utilize that. The Cowboys don't sound like one of them though.
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
This is the opinion I don't understand. People see Rico make great catches against backups in preseason games and automatically assume that some other team is going to utilize him better, if he is released. The Cowboys have been working with him for a few years now and there doesn't seem to be much progress in his game with him TE 4 or TE 3 on the roster with a clear void at that position. It is more likely he is not a good football player than the Cowboys don't know what they are doing.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Maybe but most Cowboys fans like myself will tell you that the Cowboys aren't very flexible and haven't shown much imagination when it comes to talented players.
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
Well, if you don't understand it, that's fine. The Cowboys have definitely been working with him... but as an organization, they want their TE's to be able to block. With Dallas, if you can't block, you don't make the team or play. They don't want one-dimensional tight ends out there who can't contribute in the running game. Assuming they know how to coach that up, obviously he has either little interest or ability to pick up the finer points of blocking and blocking assignments. Rico himself has almost come out and said that in the past.
The point some make is that OTHER teams would likely have the flexibility and offensive scheme to be able to utilize him strictly as a pass catcher, which he has shown plenty of physical ability to do. Not as an every-down starter, but as a situational threat in the red zone and on passing downs. Just because the Cowboys' offense seemingly has no use for that type of player doesn't mean other offenses don't.... there are tons of guys with limited skillsets who have more defined ways to contribute.
He may not amount to anything, ever. But not being able to block doesn't mean he can't contribute in a role in the passing game if that type of limited role is presented to him by a different team.
Bronco Billy
Footballguy
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
I don't understand it because it makes no sense, not because I am not able to wrap my head around this false narrative being spread that the Cowboys are holding Rico back from being relevant.
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Chaka
Footballguy
I am not sure how many of people fall into this group. I certainly never said he won't amount to anything and I don't fault anyone for stashing him based upon his measurables (I can't tell you how many times I have had Christine Michael on my teams over the past couple seasons).Football Jones said:Hmm, hot routes are typically adjustments made by the QB & receiver. Maybe Rico is smart enough to understand the basic principles of the art of playing receiver after all. Interesting.
I get people being on board with thinking Rico will never amount to anything because he very well may not (the percentages are WAY against him), but you have to be deaf, dumb, & blind not to realize the potential (especially given the Cowboys receiving corps) which makes bashing people for being highly interested in him as a simple FF stash border on bizzare.
It's one of the strangest takes I've ever seen & there's quite a few people making these comments. It's just plain foolishness.
What I am noticing in this thread, which also was prevalent in the Christine Michael thread, is there seems to be several posters (maybe 4 or 5? I honestly didn't count) who keep asking why Rico isn't getting more PT. I have seen multiple examples of people calling the coaching staff stupid for not being able to utilize Rico's tremendous physical abilities. I won't argue against the staff being stupid but it's not because of how they use Rico. There just seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding about what goes into playing the TE position. It makes no difference if Rico is blowing past LBs and trucking DBs if Dak is getting strip-sacked or throwing pick-sixes because Rico is making mistakes.
Myself and several other posters have offered multiple posts detailing exactly what the issue is with Rico but people keep going back to "Well he's so big and fast they need to get him more PT!" despite clear and logical explanations for why that isn't happening. And sometimes it's the same people doing it over and over.
I cannot explain the reason Rico isn't getting more PT any more clearly than I have (ad nauseum), so I'm going to go back to Uncle Rico jokes for the duration of this thread. That stuff is comedy gold.
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
So, it makes no sense to you that another team wouldn't care about Rico Gathers' inability to block and be able to deploy him strictly to create mismatches and plays in the passing game in those situations? Really, that's so unbelievable?
Like some have said... just because an inability to block means he's not useful to the Cowboys doesn't mean he can't be useful to a team with a different offensive scheme. Jimmy Graham couldn't block to save his life early in his career. Had he been on Dallas right now, he may have never seen the field.
That's not to say Gathers will ever amount to anything... no one is guaranteeing that. But to entirely discount the idea that another team could have an offense that can utilize what he DOES bring the table is somewhat foolish. The Cowboys aren't "holding him back." They just don't use TE's who can't block regardless of their ability to catch passes.
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
You and many other truthers are greatly exaggerating his receiving skills. The Cowboys have watched his receiving skills for a couple years and don't think those outweigh his inability to know who to block, to block the right person efficiently, or to even know what route he is supposed to run. This point can't be stated enough as it will be hard for any other QB to throw to him when they don't know what route he is running.
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
I don't think anything about his receiving skills have been exaggerated. He's a freak athletically and has shown soft hands. I don't know what a truther is, but if I am one, cool.
And yes, I'm well aware of what the Cowboys see and don't see in him, and what they expect of him. So is he from all of the reports. But what I see is that the Cowboys saw enough talent in his receiving ability that they've spent a long, long time trying to develop him as a blocker so that they could get him on the field. For them to spend that much time trying to develop a glaring weakness in his game, it tells me that the potential in his receiving skills was worth that wait for them. If it wasn't, they wouldn't have needed to take the time.
Unfortunately he just hasn't taken to blocking and for that reason has no role on the Cowboys, but a different organization could likely have him focus entirely on the receiving part of his game with minimal reliance on blocking.... that's something the Cowboys are unwilling to do. Just because the Cowboys require their TE's to block doesn't mean no other organization can have a use for a pass-catching TE who cannot block.
Chaka
Footballguy
It's about much more than blocking. Uncle Rico had great blocking but he lost State because his TE couldn't read a defense and make the proper adjustments to his routes. If it wasn't for that TE things would have been different man, I tell ya.
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
If Rico were to get picked up by another team and these special packages (or he doesn’t actually play) don’t happen for him would you be willing to admit he doesn’t have what it takes to be a TE or would there be more excuses such as that team is limiting him too?
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Rico is turning into the TE version of Christine Michael...except that Michael had more NFL production to justify his 300-page thread...
I think it’s time to acknowledge that the posters disagreeing with you will never be convinced by your arguments, no matter how eloquently (or often) you express them.
I think it’s time to acknowledge that the posters disagreeing with you will never be convinced by your arguments, no matter how eloquently (or often) you express them.
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
One, I never said the Cowboys are limiting him. Some may have, but I didn't. He simply didn't develop into the blocker they need in their offense and that means he doesnt play. Like I said... Jimmy Graham couldn't block at all when he was younger, but his team didn't ask him to and used him in the passing game. He'd never have seen the field on these Cowboys.
But if he's released and no one takes a shot on him or he fails as a receiving-only TE in an offense that utilizes a player like that, I dont think anyone would consider him anything except a failure. I hope he gets that chance in a limited role.
I don't know if he has what it takes to be successful on an offense that wont require him to block much or at all. But I'd be a fool to look at his talent and situation and not wonder what itd be like on an offense that can utilize him as a receiver without asking him to block.
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smbkrypt24
Footballguy
My goal isn’t to start some war but we didn’t get to two (you started with one) and then you didn’t answer my question.
I would be willing to admit I was completely wrong and the Cowboys are old school if Rico is picked up and used in the way you said special packages as just a receiver or even more as a starting TE.
Football Jones
Footballguy
The thought that Rico is going to unravel the offense because he's inexperienced is way overstated. We're not talking about an in-line starting TE right now. His best position for the time being is as a situational Joker. For instance, much of RZ play is sandlot-type stuff. The quick post where you get position & fades where you simply out-jump & out-physical your opponent.
There's some mystery with Rico because his receiving potential is off the charts. Again, none of his truthers are guaranteeing anything. Rico may very well bust, but the bottom line is the vast majority of organizations would be playing this differently & trying to maximize his playmaking ability & seeing what he can do.
Rico has never been in trouble & other than not focusing when he was on IR last season, all reports say he's working hard now. I have my doubts whether they'll cut him because of the upside, but he's likely to get an opportunity elsewhere if that happens (& it might be best in the long-run).
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TripItUp
Footballguy
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Cowboysfan8
Footballguy
I agreethere is some weird stuff on the board. I would say current threads in the shark pool, a 10 page thread about a TE3 or TE4 who has taken one snap with the 1st team is much weirder.
I mean, there's a dude on here who's obsessed with Cole Beasley's music for crying out loud
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
I did answer your question. I said that if he's released and signs on with a team that can utilize a TE with pass-receiving ability and doesn't require him to block and he STILL fails, I don't think anyone (myself included) would be able to call him anything but a failure. He's just not going to get that shot in Dallas.
I don't see any chance he's ever a starting TE unless he makes drastic improvements to his football IQ and blocking ability. I do, however, think he has at least a chance at being an impact player in red zone and passing situation sub-packages if he's not asked to block but can line up in the slot or outside, and that type of role could make him relevant for fantasy too. He'd never have the fantasy upside that his pure receiving ability would dictate in a part-time role though.
Tons of guys sit on the end of fantasy benches who have both a low probability of doing anything and a low ceiling even if they do. At least Gathers has a high enough ceiling if he does get into that type of situation, which is hardly as far fetched as some people want to act like it is. But nothing is going to be clear until/unless he's released.
Deamon
Footballguy
"Rico Gathers' days are numbered. The outrage that seems to ensue whenever the idea is floated that he's very much on the Dallas Cowboys' bubble may be cult-like and a bit detached from reality, but it does nothing to change said reality. Fact is, as talented of a receiver as he might be, he leaves much to be desired in other arenas. It's for these reasons the team seems to have cooled noticeably on a player they once had a ton of belief in, paying him a chunky $449,990 to essentially redshirt his rookie year on the team's 10-man practice unit."
That article nails it. Maybe he could make a CFL roster?
That article nails it. Maybe he could make a CFL roster?
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
Yes, you answer in a very roundabout way with stipulations attached. Through various interactions in this thread it goes the same way. The Rico truthers believe he has this high ceiling that the Cowboys refuse to exploit because they are so old school. No one is willing to admit that he isn't good at football.
I said if he is picked up by another team (after he is released by the Cowboys who don't have a starting TE) and does well in his "special packages" or is a starting TE (holy crap could you even imagine) I would admit I was completely wrong about this guy. Everyone else takes the approach with multiple clauses and the right team giving him a chance then I would admit I was wrong,
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
I'd admit he's a failure in a heartbeat if he gets the opportunity to contribute as strictly a pass-catcher but fails at it (whether that's on the Cowboys or on another roster), just like you'd admit you were wrong if he's successful in that role. I'm not putting any more stipulations on it than you are.
I'm not a huge fan of Gathers. I don't know what a truther is. But yes, I believe Gathers has a somewhat high ceiling as a strictly pass catching TE but he's in an organization that isn't interested in utilized a TE who cannot block. That's their organizational philosophy, and they're entitled to it. Not all organizations feel that way.
The Cowboys aren't limiting Gathers; Gathers' inability to block is limiting him. But in another organization, that may not limit him from being able to contribute. He's not good at football because he's not a well-rounded, complete option at TE. But he looks like he has the talent to make an impact in a limited, somewhat specialized role.
It doesn't matter what the Cowboys have or don't have at TE. If Gathers can't block, he's not an option for them. The Cowboys would prefer to start someone without the upside as a receiver but who they can trust on the line and the occasional 7 yard curl pattern. Again, that's what they like and they're entitled to do it however they want.
Football Jones
Footballguy
At the end of the day, Rico is just a stash. There are some people trying to make a bigger deal out of it than it is. Pretty entertaining, LOL.
I'm sure this goes for others who like his cost-to-upside ratio, but you'll know when I bang the table for somebody. Rico isn't that guy.
He's simply an intriguing prospect & a great stash at a position that is largely devoid of talent as far as FF is concerned. Rico may not amount to anything, but his raw physical ability warrants the stash (to say the least).
I'm sure this goes for others who like his cost-to-upside ratio, but you'll know when I bang the table for somebody. Rico isn't that guy.
He's simply an intriguing prospect & a great stash at a position that is largely devoid of talent as far as FF is concerned. Rico may not amount to anything, but his raw physical ability warrants the stash (to say the least).
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
I appreciate the back and forth where progress was made. I wish this could happen more often in this thread. All i seem to get is a round and round talk with no positions taken except that he is a great stash which I don't even believe he is that. This does depend on roster size, but I play 20 player rosters and he isn't close to rosterable. Maybe in 25 player rosters which would add 70 more players would I even consider him. Again thanks for the civil discussion regardless of our differences.
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modogg
Footballguy
"i'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.......i'm NOT SORRY"I agree
I mean, there's a dude on here who's obsessed with Cole Beasley's music for crying out loud
that's the only song i have ever heard, so apologies for the repeat
Cowboysfan8
Footballguy
modogg
Footballguy
they played it on a podcast of some Eagles' fans. We all had a good chuckle. I hate taking away from Rico, but pure gold like this has to be shared:If you only ever heard that one you still heard one more than me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmExCfMKjUY
* Warning - it's bad. I mean like reeeeaallll bad
Steelers4Life
Footballguy
All good man. I don't take anything personally and I don't intentionally insult people either. People disagree, it happens. Not worth debating or talking to people who take themselves so seriously that they can't acknowledge that they might be wrong and others feel differently. I've been playing for almost 25 years and I've been wrong plenty like anyone else.
I wouldn't think he's rosterable with only 20 man rosters, either. Depends on scoring system, roster size, lineup requirements etc. I'm only in 2 leagues, one with 24 man rosters and one with 28-30. He's rostered in both.
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STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
For what it’s worth I just finished up my first season in Madden 2019 and Rico “Zues” Gathers had 79 catches for 1230 yards and 18 touchdowns.
So there’s that.
So there’s that.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
You’ve never seen another team pick up a player that was released by another team and then use that player? Or even become a star player with another team?
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Still mad at myself for passing on him at 2.7 in my Steadymobbin Madden Fantasy League...cost me a championship.
Football Jones
Footballguy
It's being reported on YouTube by a channel that follows the Cowboys that Rico got 1st team reps for the 2nd day in a row. He's typically on point with his info.
Maybe this is happening. We'll see. I said earlier Garrett could have a plan for Rico, but it's hard to say what it is.
Also, take this with a grain of salt, but there have been reports Rico liked a 'fire Jason Garrett' post on IG. Could that be the reason he's being "punished"? Again I want to stress this is an unsubstantiated rumor at this time.
Maybe this is happening. We'll see. I said earlier Garrett could have a plan for Rico, but it's hard to say what it is.
Also, take this with a grain of salt, but there have been reports Rico liked a 'fire Jason Garrett' post on IG. Could that be the reason he's being "punished"? Again I want to stress this is an unsubstantiated rumor at this time.
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
Well I certainly didn't come close to saying that. Good try.
Would you be willing to say you are a better talent evaluator then an NFL franchise (in this case the Cowboys)?
What are your projections for Rico this year?
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
Fist I did not even mention Rico or say I was high on him at all.
And your second sentence is laughable to counter what I said (or didn't say actually) but nice straw-man!
This is what I responded to:
Off the top of my head Chris Carter, Alex Collins, Kurt Warner, Wes Welker and Danny Woodhead (I'm sure there are many others) were guys that were released by teams that watched them everyday in practice and all went to other teams where they were utilized far better.
So teams do make mistakes and/or release players that don't fit their system just to see them go somewhere else and strive. Now does Rico just suck at football? Maybe.... I'll say honestly I have zero clue, but if some one does believe in him then I don't think you need to dismiss anyone that thinks he can strive under a different system.
And the Cowboys offense has been about as uncreative as any offense I've seen in years. So maybe those people are right.
smbkrypt24
Footballguy
To have this (a player getting released and doing well on another team) be an expectation or the norm is laughable.
My second sentence was a direct reply to you asking me if I have ever seen another team pick up a player and they do well. I was asking if you saw something in Rico to be picked up by another team and preform at a high level since you commented that a player going to another team and preforming well happens.
If you didn't believe in him I just didn't get why you would ask me if I have never seen another player get released and him do well with another team. I asked for projections to see where you stood on him and you don't seem interested to give your opinion there?
