Freakin Bengals Medical Staff

[Whatever]

(08-24-2019, 01:34 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: The numbers i gave were Cores exact snap counts last year. 

Malone isn't a lock and Malone and Erickson aren't (in my opinion) ahead of Tate as a down by down receiver. There's a reason he and Willis were chosen to start last night; they deserved it by their practice and play in games this preseason. There's also a reason they pulled him so quick after the injury. He was on the sideline afterwards for a short time with an ice wrap on his knee, then nothing else (brace or crutches) after that. They're not going to risk him furthering the injury because they value his contribution in the upcoming seaon. If he was fighting for a roster spot, he more than likely comes back into the game. 

Core has improved this preseason but he still doesn't offer as much physically or athletically as Tate does. If you don't think he's impressive (more than Core or at all) then i can't really do anything for you. You're focusing on things like separation and YAC when they don't amount to anything when you put a guy on the field and need him to make a catch on 3rd down or in the red zone. Tate has proven he can make contested/tough catches. Up until this year, Core hasn't shown anything of note while Tate has wowed plenty of people in practice and in games. He hasn't set the world on fire but Core hasn't even found the matches yet.

Last note; there's no way in hell you can stash Tate on the practice squad. None, nada, zip, zero, nil. 

And his snap count on offense was inflated compared to a normal 5/6 due to injuries to most of the guys in front of him.  He played 65 snaps on offense the year before.

Malone is the only guy that can simulate what AJ can do in the offense and he's the only vertical threat we have until Ross and/or Green returns.  Malone's been running with the ones, too.  Honestly, a ton of guys have had time with the 1's.  You think Tony McRae is a lock?  If they're sending Tate to James Andrews for a second opinion, that doesn't indicate a minor injury.  Plus they had other WR's they needed to look at.  Core's been out there with the 1's, for Pete's sake.

If he can't get open, then he isn't going to get thrown the ball in real games.  You get that, right?  In preseason, the coaches are trying to get looks at specific players.  In the regular season, the QB is supposed to find the OPEN receiver, and that's not Tate.  Oftentimes on 3rd down, you have to pass it to a receiver short of the 1st down and they have to run for it.  He can't do that because the defender always drops him right where he makes the catch.   You're getting caught up in highlight reel grabs that are highlight reel grabs because of deficiencies in his game and are routine plays for other guys.

Core has outproduced Tate in the preseason.  He has the same number of catches and more yards on less targets.  No, they are not highlight reel plays, but they don't have to be when you can actually get open once in awhile.  

Just as guys who have speed back the defense off, guys who are slow bring the defense up, because they don't have to respect the threat of a big play.  No DC or S is going to respect Auden Tate deep or a big Auden Tate catch and run.  That means more guys in the box, more blitzes, and more double teams on AJ, Boyd, etc.  

Kid has great hands, but he's very limited due to his inability to get open.  He's not a good technical route runner, doesn't have short area quickness, and doesn't have long speed to force CB's to give him some cushion.  If he develops as a route runner, then we might have something.  But he's not there yet.

I would personally use the injury as an excuse to stick him on IR and see if his route running improves next year.  Every year, there are guys that people say will never make it to the PS that do, so I wouldn't be sure about that.  Kid has 4 catches for 35 yards on 12 targets in his career.  I don't see him as a must have for most NFL GM's.  He's a project player that would have to go to a new team and learn a new offense on the fly without the benefit of minicamp or training camp.