Auden Tate is Much Better Than Most People Think

[Whatever]

(01-22-2020, 12:21 AM)Synric Wrote: I was a fan of Tate going into the year but soured after it.

It's not just his long speed he has zero short area quickness which limits his route tree. I remember seeing him run a whip route in the end zone and box out the defender but he was so slow the defender had enough time to smoke a cigarette and then jump the route and knock the ball down. 

Auden Tate can make some crazy catches down the sideline but hes also a 50% catch rate guy because he ALWAYS has a defender in his grill. He doesnt scare defenses coordinators at all they arent going to put a safety over him and he isnt going to take a short pass for a distance. For a guy his size he struggles against press coverage that is why he only has a single touchdown.

That's the thing, it's not just his lack of deep speed.  His short area quickness is also extremely poor.  He has a limited number of routes he can be effective on due to those limitations.  People tout his ypc as somehow disproving his lack of speed, but it's really just a product of him only really being effective on intermediate routes and he's good at dragging defenders for extra yards.  

He is what he is, which is a fine depth WR.  He's not a guy you want getting 80 targets like he did this year.  I think he had 39% contested catch % this year, which is good for an NFL WR, but people have this illusion that Tate turns 50/50 balls into 70/30 balls and it's just not the case.  NFL DB's are just too good at playing the ball for a guy who can't get separation to get good production without force feeding him the ball, which is what they did last year out of necessity.