New Washington Commanders tight ends coach Juan Castillo believes John Bates has the potential to be one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL.
Castillo spoke to D.C. sports media on Wednesday after being announced as Washington's new tight ends coach on Monday. He replaces Pete Hoener, who announced his retirement last week after coaching the position group the previous two seasons in Washington.
After meeting with Bates and getting an opportunity to watch some of his tape, Castillo believes the 2021 fourth-rounder could have a special knack for creating opportunities as a blocker.
"He really came on last year," Castillo said. "I watched quite a bit of tape on John and the run-blocking and the pass-protection which, sometimes for tight ends is something that you say, 'Ah, you know what? I wish he was a better run-blocker. I wish he was a better pass-protector.' You know, John's really, for his rookie year, I'm kind of excited about that. I think that he can be one of the better run blockers, pass-protecting tight ends in the NFL. And then catching the ball, he's a big body. I'm excited about John."
In the passing game, the 6-foot-6, 249-pound Bates caught 20 balls for 249 yards and a touchdown in his first season out of Boise State.
Castillo is entering his 26th year of coaching in the NFL and hasn't served as a tight ends coach since 1997 with the Eagles, his lone season coaching that position group until now. He got his NFL start as an offensive assistant for the Eagles in 1995, under then head coach Ray Rhodes (1995-98), and stuck around in various positions for the entirety of the Andy Reid era in Philadelphia (1999-2012). That included five overlapping seasons with Ron Rivera, Philly's linebackers coach from 1999-2003.
While with Philly, Castillo also served as offensive line coach (1998-2010) and defensive coordinator (2011-2012).
Castillo moved on to Baltimore where he served as run game coordinator for one season (2013) and later as offensive line coach for three (2014-16). He's since served as an O-line coach and run game coordinator for Buffalo (2017-18), an offensive analyst for the University of Michigan (2019), and O-line coach for Chicago (2020-21).
Castillo has also had a chance to meet with Sammis Reyes this week and shared that they enjoyed being able to hold conversations in Spanish, their native language. Castillo believes that commonality should help Reyes feel more comfortable with him as the 26-year-old Chilean tight end prepares for his second NFL season.
"We talked about some of the things that he needs to do to develop," Castillo said. "When I was at Philadelphia and other places, I've had a lot of college free agents develop for me and play for me, so you have a feel for guys like that."
"All you've got to get those guys to do is get them to know that you care about them, and get them to understand that they have to outwork everybody," he said. "And when I talked to Sam, that's what we were talking about. 'Hey Sam, these are the things you've got to do so you can catch up.' Because he's a talented kid. The thing is to get a kid like that that's talented to be able to get in the mix and help you, because people get hurt."
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