Should Tate continue to return kicks?

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Tate has been great at STs returns but now as he elevates up into a top depth WR is it too risky to see him out there returning kicks and possibly increasing chance of injury?

I would hope BB goes to Slater as kick returner...one injury to Tate on a return and we are severely screwed.

There is no Faulk or Maroney to pick up the returns anymore and we are limited in that area for guys capable of doing a good job there

Problem is that takes away the big threat he gives us which is a return kickoff/punt TD which he has done twice already

Take the risk and use him as he has been on STs? or save him and eliminate more risk by using him solely for his main position as WR?

 

[TriplecHamp]

Yes, but I don't this to turn into a Devin Hester type situation where they ask him to do too much.

 

[slash83]

Probably not, cant risk him getting injured on a kick return while trying to fill the monster hole left by Mr Randy Moss.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Probably not, cant risk him getting injured on a kick return while trying to fill the monster hole left by Mr Randy Moss.

When Welker caught the first kickoff by Miami I was thinking Belichick,what the hell are you doing with him out there still not 100%?

Then when Wes bobbled and dropped the kick and got it back it scared me as his legs got rolled up inside the pile,fortunately they rolled up in a normal position

These are risky situations that can destroy a teams season,belichick hopefully will do the right thing whatever that may be

 

[roguepatriot]

Yes, Tate should continue to return kicks. Don't stop something that is working. This kid is special, as per the 3 TDs in 8 games (incl. pre-season) and his college career, and I think we will need all the field position/points he can give us. If you start playing the injury game, you end up doing nothing. If we can come out of this year with killer special teams (and I think O'Brien has the horses this year to do it), it will help a lot to overcome some of our other question marks. Also its not like punt returns, you are usually able to field the ball cleanly . I would have more questions using Welker for PR duty than Tate for KR.

 

[slash83]

When Welker caught the first kickoff by Miami I was thinking Belichick,what the hell are you doing with him out there still not 100%?

Then when Wes bobbled and dropped the kick and got it back it scared me as his legs got rolled up inside the pile,fortunately they rolled up in a normal position

These are risky situations that can destroy a teams season,belichick hopefully will do the right thing whatever that may be

Yeah I know what you mean, every catch Wes makes I pay extra close attention to make sure he gets up in good health. Its a risk reward situation that BB needs to weigh and make the best decision for the team.

 

[Lansdowne]

Sure, keep him in there. He gives this team an advantage on special teams.

Tate won't see the field as much as Moss did IMO. I expect a lot of 2 TE formations, something they couldn't do last year with the lack of reliable receiving options at that position. This year they can go 2 TE and either run block or be a receiver.

 

[Tyler.Durden]

Well if welker keeps returning punts, tate will keep returning kicks.
Yes we are now thinner, but ST is 1/3 of a football game and as we saw last week vs the dolphins you can win or lose it in this phase.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Tate has been great at STs returns but now as he elevates up into a top depth WR is it too risky to see him out there returning kicks and possibly increasing chance of injury?

I would hope BB goes to Slater as kick returner...one injury to Tate on a return and we are severely screwed.

There is no Faulk or Maroney to pick up the returns anymore and we are limited in that area for guys capable of doing a good job there

Problem is that takes away the big threat he gives us which is a return kickoff/punt TD which he has done twice already

Take the risk and use him as he has been on STs? or save him and eliminate more risk by using him solely for his main position as WR?

Keep Tate on kick returns, IMO (he doesn't return punts, to my knowledge). He has 2 TDs in 4 games, both of which broke the game wide open. He'd have to be better at WR than he is to justify forfeiting that. Get him some WR reps, sure, but not at the expense of his returning contributions.

 

[loloooooooooooo]

if he gets hurt, he gets hurt... you can get hurt at anytime, and if you play football you can't prevent it other than not playing at all...

 

[jsull87]

Well if welker keeps returning punts, tate will keep returning kicks.
Yes we are now thinner, but ST is 1/3 of a football game and as we saw last week vs the dolphins you can win or lose it in this phase.

Don't know who's doing your maths but it definitely isn't 1/3 of a football game. Generally way less than a 1/4

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Yep, and when he needs a rest use McCourty.

 

[Joker]

nobody anywhere on any NFL team pulls a player from a job because he may get injured during a play.

 

[patsfanboy]

Randy returned kick and punts when he was younger.

 

[TealSox]

Keep Tate at returning kicks.

If he continues to return kick offs at a high average, he does more for this offense than if he comes in at WR to run deep as a decoy. Taylor can do that, right?

 

[Batman]

I was gonna post about him being put in as PR for the next games to keep Wes just as a wr however I now think that having Tate as kr is great and taking a legit playmaker off it makes no sense. Returner is also a position in the NFL now with a second position just incase they need help but I hope we are going for 5-10 yard passes and being a team with a big yac now and keep the deep ball as a change up.

 

[Calciumee]

I don't know if he should, but I think he will!

He is clearly a weapon returning kicks!

Difference with him and Devin Hester is Tate is actually a WR, and not doing too much by having to learn the position aswell, after being drafted as a CB!

 

[SEA_Pat]

Definitely! We finally have a threat on Special Teams, you don't want to take it away. That return to start the 2nd half turned the tide and led to us winning the game easily.

He's a pro athlete, with access to the best training facilities. Every guy on ST duty takes off down the field full tilt and often the guys without the ball are the ones getting the heavy hits, especially anyone on wedge or break the wedge duty. Yet I notice several defensive and offensive starters play ST, and they have to be in the next play after too. If he ends up having to take a breather after running 100 yards and misses a few plays, I can live with that. Injuries happen, it's when you're being overly cautious that they happen more.

 

[TruthSeeker]

In 2001, we only had one good receiver, Troy Brown, and he was a good punt returner. Remember his TD in the Pittsburgh playoff game ? Belichick won't pull Tate away from kickoff returns, he's too good at it.

 

[serifyn]

Something just doesn't seem right with the current position they find themselves in. take into consideration the following candidates to replace moss.

Brandon Tate: With his speed he is the best candidate to replace moss when stretching the field, however after the Bengals game and this past dolphins game he is the best kick returner the patriots have had in a long time, replacing him at that position now wouldn't be in their best interest, that being said, it also offered another problem in that if Tate has a good kickoff return and they are in a situation where he will not have adequate time to rest afterward (such as a hurry up offense or 2 minute situation, it is doubtful that he would be able to have the energy to run long routes for big yardage, he is young, but they couldn't possibly know enough about him to realistically put him in the game after a kickoff and be able to run any route he could possibly run.

Julian Edelman: he is quick, but is he fast or big enough to stretch the field and be an adequate enough target? he has also been hurt lately and nothing we've seen during the season tells us that he is ready to take over at the 1WR position.

Taylor Price: i seriously doubt that a rookie who have played minimal Pro snaps (he comes from a smaller school as well) would know the playbook enough to take over this position at this current time, we haven't seen much of him and he was a bit of a disappointment in pre-season.

The Trading of moss is also detrimental to welker for obvious reasons, until the patriots can come up with a real credible outside threat safeties will clearly be doubling welker, which will limit his opportunities to make plays as well as his YAK. Welker being more of a slot guy also means that safeties wont have to be as afraid of his deep stuff.