Rico Gathers -- the Zeus of Cowboys TEs -- feels 'thousand times better' at start of Year 2

[Smitty]

Sort (Because their careers had similar beginnings) of but not really. The point is we can all pretend like we knew the difference between Austin and Williams in the first few years of their careers but we really didn't. We barely saw either of them play WR and all we had to go off of was the reports about their great speed and athletic ability and how well they practiced. Which brings us full circle back to Gathers. Who is big, athletic and has had great practice reports come back from last year. But he is just as similar to Randal Williams as he is Miles Austin for example.

Again I'm gonna disagree. I'm not pretending when I say that based on everything I had read and seen, I was confident that Austin was a legit WR prospect worth having around, whereas Randall Williams I was never counting on anything from. Some years I'm right, some I'm wrong, but the most telling comparison would be like Romo versus Showers.

One comes in as a guy you have some actual expectations for. The other is just a flier. There is a tangible difference in the levels of each prospect upon entry into the league. Austin was legit, Williams not.

Another example is Ron Leary.... that's the tier Austin came in as, in my mind.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Austin's potential was in his skills as a receiver and natural ability as a returner.

Randal Williams potential was more about being 6'3" 220 and running sub-4.4 40's.

Both skill sets garnered a look, but unfortunately Williams was behind the 8-ball regarding a real football position.

That wasn't going to fly with Bill Parcells for long.

I think had Parcells stayed, the team would have backed Austin over Hurd and the increased PT would have accelerated Austin's breakout.

Austin was progressing very well until he got a new contract then he went down hill from there.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Austin was progressing very well until he got a new contract then he went down hill from there.

His health just went south, it happens.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Again I'm gonna disagree. I'm not pretending when I say that based on everything I had read and seen, I was confident that Austin was a legit WR prospect worth having around, whereas Randall Williams I was never counting on anything from. Some years I'm right, some I'm wrong, but the most telling comparison would be like Romo versus Showers.

One comes in as a guy you have some actual expectations for. The other is just a flier. There is a tangible difference in the levels of each prospect upon entry into the league. Austin was legit, Williams not.

Another example is Ron Leary.... that's the tier Austin came in as, in my mind.

Which of those two groups does Hambrick go into then...

 

[Smitty]

Which of those two groups does Hambrick go into then...

Ha, he was not one that came in with any fanfare. I started liking him after seeing him in a preseason game.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Ha, he was not one that came in with any fanfare. I started liking him after seeing him in a preseason game.

Which is really where most of us got our love for Tony Romo. Not that some of us didn't see him as a priority free agent, but even the best of the best UDFA QBs are total scrubs. But watching Romo in preseason he just had it. Sort of like watching Dak last year in preseason you could just see that he was different.

 

[ravidubey]

His health just went south, it happens.

Each hamstring injury was like 2-3 seasons of aging. At some point you lose the edge that makes you an NFL level athlete.

I fear Jaylon Smith's injury will have as great or greater effect on his effectiveness.

 

[p1_]

Yep and here are some undrafted free agents the Cowboys have also had some luck with. Dave Edwards, Cliff Harris Drew Pearson, Everson Walls,Bill Bates, Mark Tuinei and so on so Austin is in pretty good company.

Nate Newton.

 

[p1_]

For all his basketball skill that makes Gathers a great target in the passing game, Im interested in the prospects for the running game if he can be a beastly blocker in this uber oline. I can only imagine how well he could punish and maul defenders. He's basically another tackle, with receiver skills.