Why to watch Erik Swoope at training camp

The Indianapolis Colts have a 90-man roster heading into training camp and have to find a way to cut that down to 53 players before the start of the regular.

Now while there aren’t many coaches to watch every single player, rookie tight end Erik Swoope is a must watch in this year’s camp.

Now let’s take a look at Swoope’s history playing football: there is none.

That was quick.

But don’t let that take away from his chances of not only making the team, but making an impact on this upcoming season.

A few guys you may have heard of would be tight ends like Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates, and Tony Gonzalez. Those names sound familiar? Not surprised. Players like them are some of the best tight ends in the NFL today and have all made transitions from playing basketball to playing football.

When you look at the size and speed of Swoope, it is a framework that can easily translate to having success in the NFL.

Swoope is 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 246 pounds, a prototypical size for an NFL tight end. Analyzing a player such as Swoope this early is a challenge for anyone, but like I’ve said before, this wouldn’t be the first time a basketball player has made a transition to the NFL. What can help the transition from basketball to football is boxing out. Obviously, when a player misses a shot in basketball you have to be able to box out and get the rebound.

Now in the NFL, there are situations when the quarterback throws a fade route to the end zone and as a receiver catching the pass it is your job to set yourself up in position where you can jump up and make the catch.

Head coach Chuck Pagano has been impressed with Swoope so far stating how he has “exceeded our expectations way beyond anything that you’d ever imagine for a guy that never played.”

Swoope is currently in a position where he could compete for a lot of playing time with the Colts.

Tight end Coby Fleener is currently the starter for the Colts with tight end Dwayne Allen currently his backup. Allen is coming off a season-ending hip injury he suffered in the first week of the season against the Oakland Raiders. While Allen did have a productive rookie season the year before leading all rookie tight ends in receptions in 2012, the Colts may try to play it safe with Allen and not give him a heavy workload his first season back from injury. This move could lead to the opportunity for Swoope to see a lot of playing time and impress the Colts coaching staff even more.

Even though Swoope will have a lot to learn in the NFL, there is no doubt he is a player that can be a stud tight end in the game today.


(isportsweb.com)