05-10-2021, 12:56 PM
(05-10-2021, 12:34 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Last off season I spent a lot of time arguing with the people who claimed Auden Tate could be one of our top 3 WRs. He had one of the worst catch % in the entire league and I felt he put up some decent numbers just because there was no one else to throw the ball too in 2019. This seemed to be proven in 2020 when he was behind Michael Thomas on the depth chart and was often not even on the active roster on gameday.
This off season I have spent a lot of time talking about what a great drop off in talent their is after our top 3 WRs.
But when I step back and look at Tate as a #4 WR I realize he would probably be serviceable. I still think we may add a veteran who gets release by another team. Maybe even at the very end of training camp. But if we don't I won't complain too much about Tate as our #4.
I actually still think Auden Tate could be a really good outside receiver in this league (mid to low end 2), but I don't think he has the versatility inside and out to be the only back-end vet on the roster. He suffered a season-ending injury in Week 11 I think it was, so he really missed out on the ability to get some more targets later in the year. His real issue is that he doesn't play special teams and that is really a requirement if you arent a top 2/3 WR on a depth chart, so it can leave you inactive depending how injuries in other places stack up week to week. We are talking to Westbrook who I like as a potential option since he can return punts and can play out of the slot if Boyd goes down. Either way, I think you can do a lot worse than Auden Tate being your team's 4/5 receiver.
