Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
With the 2013 NFL Draft upon us, I thought I would take the opportunity to watch some film on players who are typically projected in mock drafts to go around the 56th pick, which is the first pick the Seattle Seahawks have this year. I decided to scout not just all of the players who are projected to go around pick 56, but rather just the players in that area who would best fit the needs and style of the Seahawks.
This time, we will take a look at San Diego State tight end Gavin Escobar. Even though he decided to leave school early, Escobar put up impressive numbers in his time at SDSU, as he caught 122 passes for 1,646 yards and 17 touchdowns. He’s more of a pass-catching tight end than a blocking one, so he’d be a perfect fit for the Seahawks alongside Zach Miller, who is already one of the better blocking tight ends in the NFL.
After watching quite a bit of tape on Escobar, here’s what I’ve gathered as far as strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths:
At 6-foot-6 and about 254 pounds, Escobar is the perfect size for an NFL tight end. It’s tough to tell given the small amount of tape I was able to find online, but he appears to have good hands, runs routes well and is very good at getting open/finding space.
His 40-time wasn’t spectacular, but he showed he possesses great agility with great times in the three-cone drill (7.07 seconds), 20-yard shuttle (4.31 seconds) and 60-yard shuttle (11.86 seconds).
Weaknesses:
In what little footage I could find of him blocking, he didn’t look great. He looks a bit faster on film than he really is (4.84 second 40-time). He played at San Diego State University in the Mountain West Conference, so it’s tough to tell how he would’ve played against more talented defensive players.
Follow Connor Hutyler on Twitter @ConnorHutyler.
