STRENGTHS
Dallas is an overall very good athlete. He shows me on film that he likes the physical part of blocking and that is what you look for in a good Tight End. Dallas has the body control to adjust to the ball in the air and has the soft hands that allow him to have a big catch radius. Dallas will have the most impact catching the ball inside the red zone for the team that selects him. He has the potential to be a solid in line blocker and also has enough lateral agility to be a solid blocker in space and this will allow him to stay on the field for all three downs and play multiple positions for your offense. Dallas looks on film to be a proud player and self motivated player and that means he is the type of athlete that will never stop trying to improve. He can become a core player for your offense.

CONCERNS
There are a lot of little things that Dallas gets away with doing at the level of play that will cause him a lot of problems at the next level until he corrects them. He route running is poor and he lacks quickness off the line getting into his routes. He gives away his in line blocking assignment leaning and changing his stance and signally what his assignment is to the defense. When he runs routes he has a very bad habit of rounding off his routes and He hasn’t proven on film that he can catch contested passes. At his size and strength and level of competition you would expect more dramatic film that shows more physical and harder abilities for opponents to bring him down in the open field. Dallas is not a quick twitch athlete and lacks the speed on film that you would expect a high valued draft pick would have.

BOTTOM LINE
There is a lot of talk about this kid but when I turn on the field I see a good solid player with the athleticism to play at the next level and the toughness to play at the next level but I do not see a dominating player and at the level of competition I guess that’s what I expected to see. He is the best player on his team and he does stand out and he shows that he is bigger and more athletic than his competition but I’m looking for what he has for the NFL level. What I see is a player who can become a core player for the team that selects him but he has some poor habits that have to be addressed before he can stay on the field and become a starter. Nevertheless, like any Tight End that who has the athleticism to line up as a receiver inside or outside, and talent to adjust and catch the ball that Dallas shows on film… the Red Zone is truly were Dallas can impact more than any other part of the field in his first few years.

Drew Boylhart   MAR.2018