Will Tate be active this Sunday?

[tombonneau]

With Edelman nursing a busted arm and Tate eligible to come off PUP, Brandon Tate (and any potential contributions) seem to be a hot and polarizing board topic.

Thought I'd take an official poll and see who thinks he will see the field as soon as this Sunday.

With Galloway gone and assuming Edelman is out, that gives the Pats only three healthy WRs in Moss, Welker and Aiken.

Frankly, I don't see how Tate isn't active and on the field for a few plays. The only way he isn't is if Nunn is brought up from the PS.

FWIW, the Niners plan on starting Crabtree just a few weeks after activating him, and he's had even less preparation than Tate had (not saying Crabtree will do well or not, just citing some coaching decision precedent ...)

 

[Synovia]

I think Nunn, Slater, or Aiken all are more likely to be productive this weekend, having actually practiced with the offense.

 

[mosslost]

My vote of confidence is in Nunn.

 

[DaBruinz]

I think Nunn, Slater, or Aiken all are more likely to be productive this weekend, having actually practiced with the offense.

Slater hasn't been practicing with the offense, to my knowledge and from what people have stated and what the Media has reported. So its unlikely that he'll be there.

Also, Tate started practicing this week with the offense. You also forget that he's had plenty of time to do film study and learn, though practical experience surmounts all.

Nunn is the likely candidate, but it all depends on what Tate shows in practice.

 

[Lampshade]

Active purely as KR/PR would be my guess.

Hoping Nunn is activated.

 

[condon84]

If Tate is activated, I think it'll be for PR/KR duties. Edelman has been returning some kicks and punts recently and with him out, I can see Tate taking over those duties.

 

[Synovia]

Also, Tate started practicing this week with the offense. You also forget that he's had plenty of time to do film study and learn, though practical experience surmounts all.

The WR job within the Patriots offense is one of the most complex in all of football. They have deeper route trees than pretty much any other team, and that is why so many guys seem to have trouble picking up the offense. Learning the playbook is an entirely different thing from being able to make the correct reads, and I highly doubt that Tate can do that after one week of practice.


Everyone is amazed how well Edelman has done with it, but you forget, he has been practicing with the team since the minicamps in may and june. He's had months to pick the stuff up. Tate hasn't. Nunn and Aiken have.

 

[Synovia]

Active purely as KR/PR would be my guess.

Hoping Nunn is activated.

Theres really no way to have them both active. There aren't enough spots on the 45.

 

[Lampshade]

Theres really no way to have them both active. There aren't enough spots on the 45.

I intended it to read as an either/or. I'm hoping Nunn is activated, but my guess is it will be Tate.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The WR job within the Patriots offense is one of the most complex in all of football. They have deeper route trees than pretty much any other team, and that is why so many guys seem to have trouble picking up the offense. Learning the playbook is an entirely different thing from being able to make the correct reads, and I highly doubt that Tate can do that after one week of practice.


Everyone is amazed how well Edelman has done with it, but you forget, he has been practicing with the team since the minicamps in may and june. He's had months to pick the stuff up. Tate hasn't. Nunn and Aiken have.

Agreed. He may be able to pass a written or oral test on the offense, but doing it live is a whole seperate issue.

If Tate is active on Sun, I'll be pleasently suprised. If he is in on a single offensive snap I will be pleasently shocked.

 

[DaBruinz]

The WR job within the Patriots offense is one of the most complex in all of football. They have deeper route trees than pretty much any other team, and that is why so many guys seem to have trouble picking up the offense. Learning the playbook is an entirely different thing from being able to make the correct reads, and I highly doubt that Tate can do that after one week of practice.


Everyone is amazed how well Edelman has done with it, but you forget, he has been practicing with the team since the minicamps in may and june. He's had months to pick the stuff up. Tate hasn't. Nunn and Aiken have.

Synovia - You don't have to explain to me about how complex the WR job is in NE. I posted just how complex it was in the thread that Kontradiction started.

That being said, you are being friggin obtuse again. You can't compare Edelman to Tate in any way shape or form because Edelman is used to learning an enormity of plays and an enormity of different things on each play from his time as being a QB. That being said, Tate has had MONTHS to digest the playbook and STUDY FILM. Read the part in BOLD again. Film study is a HUGE part of being able to pick things up and, since, to my knowledge, Tate has been in New England through his rehab, he should have been able to do that.

Now, as I stated, PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE is the key. This is known as practice and game play.

Aiken is a special teamer who is posing as a WR. He's not very good at all. He flopped in Buffalo as a receiver and their offense is simpler than the Pats.

Nunn is a question mark. The Pats felt so highly about Nunn that they kicked Galloway to the curb week ago and brought Nunn up.. or wait, they didn't..

WE don't know how Nunn is doing other than he's still on the practice squad. Nunn could just be this year's version of Bam Childress. Good enough for the PS, but not good enough for anything else. We don't know.

 

[Obnoxio]

We may see Isaiah Stanback at WR since he was also a QB and probably is smart enough to pick up the offense quickly. Nunn is also a possibility.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

We may see Isaiah Stanback at WR since he was also a QB and probably is smart enough to pick up the offense quickly. Nunn is also a possibility.

They were able to get Stanback in to New England specifically because they wanted him as a QB, not as a WR.

[Ironic, isn't it: they bring in a QB who's been converted to WR and want him to go back to QB, and then draft a QB and move him to WR. . . . ]

 

[Jimke]

Active purely as KR/PR would be my guess.

Hoping Nunn is activated.

Tate is the NCAA career leader in return yardage. He would add another

dimension to the special teams. Hopefully, he won't debut like Matthew

Slater and fumble a key return.

 

[willdeespats]

BB is known for bringing his rookies along slowly. Thus, Nunn is more likely to get activated to the game day roster with Tate getting two more weeks of practice before he's activated.

 

[Metaphors]

The real issue is that Nunn likely hasn't had any practice time with Brady before this week. And none of his nice catches in the preseason were thrown by Brady. I'm not sure that you can consider him ready based on scout team practice snaps and preseason throws from Walter and Hoyer.

That being said, I assume that either Nunn or Tate will be active this weekend. There is a roster spot waiting for either of them without having to cut anyone. I'm not sure how many 4 WR sets will be needed against TB, but if either Nunn or Tate gets meaningful snaps, they will almost certainly be given a restricted set of plays and limited options off of those plays.

Now that I think about it, this would be a great time to get Tate a couple of snaps. Pretty low risk of losing the game and a subsequent bye week to correct mistakes.

 

[BradyFTW!]

How does Crabtree have less preparation than Tate?

 

[JSn]

How does Crabtree have less preparation than Tate?

No camp, no team meetings, no access to the film room, no trainers.

 

[JackBauer]

Well, he can't be any worse of a WR than Aiken!

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Aiken is like Kelly Washington was on this team - Pretty good STer but less than average WR - Kelly was sent on his way and if Aiken does not help the passing game I can't see him here long either.

As to Tate I expect him to be in uniform but not a part of the game unless someone gets injured.