Spotlight On Patriots Tate Shows The Light May Be Dimming

[TB_12]

St. Louis may indeed sign him but if he goes there I think Tate will still be buried on the depth chart, behind Amendola, Gibson, Avery and Sims-Walker.

The Rams have also resigned Mark Clayton who was actually connecting with Bradford quite well until he got injured and was out for the season.

 

[Boston Boxer]

I think the play of Slater as a WR this preseason makes it a whole lot easier to cut Tate. Because of the acquisition of Ochocinco guys like Slater and Tate move further down in terms of importance at WR (i.e., the depth chart), but I think Slater has shown enough that not having Tate on the roster for that number of snaps and receptions should not be a concern. Taylor Price is faster than Tate and he and/or Slater should be more than able to adequately replace and improve on Tate's performance.

good point. Slater has shown that he is a better WR, IMO, than Tate. Slater is a stud STer, and the new return/kickoff rule pretty much takes Tate's skill and throws it out the window.

So long Tate, we hardly knew ye

 

[BadMoFo]

Brandon Tate = Bethel Johnson

 

[BradyFTW!]

Tampa Bay does have Benn, but Tate should be good enough to be #3 there, if not compete for #2 WR.

2010 Stats:
Arrelious Benn: 15 games, 25 receptions, 395 yards, 15.8 ypr, 2 TD, 1 fumble

Brandon Tate: 16 games, 24 receptions, 432 yards, 18.0 ypr, 3 TD, 1 fumble

After Benn they only have Sammie Stroughter (24 rcpt, 239 yards, 0 TD), Michael Spurlock (17/250/2) and Dezmon Briscoe (6/93/1); add in Josh Freeman at QB and that's probably as good a situation as he could ask for.




St. Louis may indeed sign him but if he goes there I think Tate will still be buried on the depth chart, behind Amendola, Gibson, Avery and Sims-Walker.

FWIW, Stroughter was one of the few Bucs who stood out to me on offense when we played them a couple weeks ago.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

My god, why is everyone giving up on Tate? He will be a good NFL receiver. Give him time, he is still very young. I guarantee you Belichick will not cut him.

 

[ewg_gestalt]

My god, why is everyone giving up on Tate? He will be a good NFL receiver. Give him time, he is still very young. I guarantee you Belichick will not cut him.

You may be right. Tate could become a respectable NFL receiver. However, with the arrival of Ochocinco, there's one too many receivers on the team. Edelman and Slater have greater ST value than does Tate now. Someone else might get cut, but if I were Tate, I'd be worried about that sword hanging over my head. . . .

 

[Deus Irae]

My god, why is everyone giving up on Tate? He will be a good NFL receiver. Give him time, he is still very young. I guarantee you Belichick will not cut him.

If they're keeping Tate, who gets cut?

Branch
Johnson
Welker
Edelman
Price
Slater

 

[D-Money]

Tate is another one of those wrs that didnt panned out,I wanted them to take a wr in the draft that passed.They could have taken a kid like Leonard Hankerson who will probably rot with washington.

 

[sbpatfan]

Tate is another one of those wrs that didnt panned out,I wanted them to take a wr in the draft that passed.They could have taken a kid like Leonard Hankerson who will probably rot with washington.

Always so negative. Cheer up.

 

[PatsFanStnfrd]

Agree Tate will be cut. Unfortunately for the Pats, he won't bring even a 6th round pick in a trade. Another of our WR picks that bites the dust. Well we have Price to root for.

Still, here's wishing him well.

 

[jmt57]

My god, why is everyone giving up on Tate? He will be a good NFL receiver. Give him time, he is still very young. I guarantee you Belichick will not cut him.

Prior to the start of camp I was convinced Tate would be on the roster and those that thought otherwise were foolish. However, after reading the daily camp reports, watching the preseason games, and following the development by Slater my opinion has completely changed; in the last five weeks I have gone from being very surprised if he should end up being cut, to being very surprised if he is not.

 

[Joker]

maybe he gets a mystery injury and gets IR'ed for the season...this is STILL possible under the new contract is it not?

 

[ausbacker]

My god, why is everyone giving up on Tate? He will be a good NFL receiver. Give him time, he is still very young. I guarantee you Belichick will not cut him.

Tate was considerably outplayed by career Special Teamers Julian Edelman & Matthew Slater. Taylor Price's emergence pushed him further down the list of expendables.

 

[DaBruinz]

Dating back to when he was getting snaps last season, I never really saw what he brought to the table as an NFL WR. For a guy who's billed as having elite speed, he doesn't really get separation, plus he doesn't have great hands, quickness, or strength. I think the second ACL tear (during his rookie season) might have robbed him of a lot of his athleticism? By all accounts he's a good guy though, so if/when he gets cut, hopefully he'll catch on somewhere else.

Tate was NEVER billed as having "ELITE SPEED." That is totally fictitious on your part. You've been saying it for the last two years and you've been wrong every time you've said it.

Tate was a 4.5 guy in college. What allowed him to excel as a kick returner and punt returner was his quickness and vision.

What I've seen of the kick return team, the blocking has sucked during the 1st 3 games. And not just for Tate. For everyone else as well other than that one kick return by Edelman.

 

[DaBruinz]

Brandon Tate = Bethel Johnson

I see garbage like this and just laugh because it shows that the person has absolutely no clue about either player.

 

[DaBruinz]

Tate was considerably outplayed by career Special Teamers Julian Edelman & Matthew Slater. Taylor Price's emergence pushed him further down the list of expendables.

People claimed that Wes Welker was a "career Special Teamer" when the Pats got him from Miami. It's kinda insulting to say that Edelman is in that category when he's shown the capability to be more than that.

 

[ausbacker]

People claimed that Wes Welker was a "career Special Teamer" when the Pats got him from Miami. It's kinda insulting to say that Edelman is in that category when he's shown the capability to be more than that.

It's not insulting when he plays special teams more than he plays at receiver. If that changes in the future so be it but he's not beating out Welker as the slot receiver.

Being capable isn't a reflection of current status.

 

[Raymond]

What I've seen of the kick return team, the blocking has sucked during the 1st 3 games. And not just for Tate. For everyone else as well other than that one kick return by Edelman.

I second that thought. I actually felt sorry for Tate. He had no place to run.

 

[Ring 6]

People claimed that Wes Welker was a "career Special Teamer" when the Pats got him from Miami. It's kinda insulting to say that Edelman is in that category when he's shown the capability to be more than that.

With 7 catches all season?

 

[Dutchmaster617]

Tate was considerably outplayed by career Special Teamers Julian Edelman & Matthew Slater. Taylor Price's emergence pushed him further down the list of expendables.

He should be outplayed by Edelman, he is on another level than Slater and Tate and since coming in for Welker few years back has shown to be a solid player. Why is he so underrated?