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"Rice had a resume."
Jerry Rice was a slow receiver from a 1-AA school who many in the Bay Area (where I lived at the time) thought was nothing more than a product of the college system he played in (run and shoot) against poor competition and was way overdrafted (1st round). There were lots of complaints about not getting Al Toon or Eddie Brown (I believe the Niners traded up for Rice) or anyone with a better resume. And he had many drops as a rookie, most of them perfectly thrown balls right that hit him in stride and smack in his hands. Rice developed and the rest is history.
Tate is a third round development pick who has potential upside as a number 1 receiver. While he may have dropped a few balls (I'm unable to watch all of the Pats games), he was no where near as bad as Rice as a rookie regarding drops. In my opinion, most of his failed catches were due more to accuracy problems on Brady's part than Tate's route running or catching ability. Brady is not the best in the world on the deep ball.
I'm not saying Tate will be Rice (far from it). But give the kid a break and look at the complete picture. If he develops, he'll be a steal. If not, not much is lost.
Jerry Rice was a slow receiver from a 1-AA school who many in the Bay Area (where I lived at the time) thought was nothing more than a product of the college system he played in (run and shoot) against poor competition and was way overdrafted (1st round). There were lots of complaints about not getting Al Toon or Eddie Brown (I believe the Niners traded up for Rice) or anyone with a better resume. And he had many drops as a rookie, most of them perfectly thrown balls right that hit him in stride and smack in his hands. Rice developed and the rest is history.
Tate is a third round development pick who has potential upside as a number 1 receiver. While he may have dropped a few balls (I'm unable to watch all of the Pats games), he was no where near as bad as Rice as a rookie regarding drops. In my opinion, most of his failed catches were due more to accuracy problems on Brady's part than Tate's route running or catching ability. Brady is not the best in the world on the deep ball.
I'm not saying Tate will be Rice (far from it). But give the kid a break and look at the complete picture. If he develops, he'll be a steal. If not, not much is lost.