With their final pick of Draft weekend 2016, the Dallas Cowboys drafted a tight end who hasn’t actually played football since junior high.
Rico Gathers played basketball, not football, at Baylor, before deciding to change his sport and enter the NFL Draft this year. When you’re a super-athlete and you stand 6-foot-8 and weigh in at 275 pounds like Gathers, you can do that.
The Cowboys were one of over 20 teams to attend his Pro Day, and they ultimately drafted him 217th overall, in the sixth round. He is a project, certainly, but a worthwhile project, as Jason Garrett was quick to point out when discussing the addition of Baylor’s all-time leading rebounder.
“He is just very impressive physically,” Garrett said, per Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. “Clearly he is determined to do this, and so we just felt at the bottom of our draft, this was a worthwhile opportunity.
“His style as a basketball player is one that's very physical; prolific rebounder. We felt like that could translate. Clearly he is a developmental player, but if he turns into something, it might be something we really like.”
