Ben Tate (1 Viewer)

[Multiple Scores]

Tate has elite numbers in measureables.His 40 time at 4.34 is sixth best in last decade.

Tate, Ben 4.43Wrong. Let's not fabricate numbers to make a point please.

 

[coolnerd]

I am blown away how many people discount Slatons talent and value. This guy tore it up 2 years ago. He played with a bad shoulder which caused nerve pain down his arm that he held the ball with. He also ran behind what I felt was one of the worst run blocking lines I had seen last year.

Tate has to beat out Steve Slaton....not an easy task IMO. Slaton has proven he can be a very good NFL RB when healthy. And in college other than his SR season he was a stud.

Yeah I am biased...I own him in several leagues. But there is a reason I drafted him 2 years ago....he has big time NFL skills. Tate does nothing special. Slaton can score from anywhere catch and block.

The Texans will hand the job to Tate.....I suspect when Slaton get's his opportunities (he will play a key role in this offense don't fool yourself)...he will make it harder and harder for the Texans to keep him off the field.

It will be interesting to see this play out.

Right now, no one is even sure that Slaton will be healthy. ..and the one thing Slaton did prove last year was that he could not be counted on be the lead back. Both Moats and Foster were better every down runners as flawed as they are. Slaton showed he could make a big play and was best when he got the ball in the open field and on draws, but his best role is as a change of pace runner, which the Texans originally drafted him to be.

Fair enough...with this type of offense I have to believe he will see the field often. I had heard his surgery went well (when does it not go well) and he was expected to be a full go come training camp....any news to counter that?

My concerns are two fold1- the Texans (like many NFL teams) are no exactly forecoming about the seriousness of injuires. It was at leasta couple of weeks before we knew that Slaton had the surgery. There is also the history in my mind of Boselli and Dom Davis/Williams having good post surgery reports and never playing again and the two week injury of andre Johnson turning into two months.

2- The surgery itself is pretty serious on sensitive area of the body especially for football players. This blog shows the bolt and has some discussion of normal people experience. (and I get they are not under the care of a highly paid NFL training staff, etc)

http://blogs.chron.com/texanschick/2010/04...bionic_man.html

The thread starter in this post is surgeon (not the one who performed the work) and speaks generally about the recovery time for this neck injury.

http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/showthrea...ht=steve+slaton

Steve Slaton's chat on 2/8/10 (says he will be ready)

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/q_and_a.asp?Q_AND_A_ID=70

The most recent comment I heard came from offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, basically saying he thinks Slaton will be fine, but leaves the medical stuff the Smith/Kubiak. This was at a post draft press conference.

In short, except for generally being pessimistic about a RB having a bolt in his neck and hoping it fuses together properly, I don't have any statement from the Texans which would contradict the generic he will cleared for contact by training camp that you probably have seen also.

 

[az_prof]

Tate has elite numbers in measureables.

His 40 time at 4.34 is sixth best in last decade.

Tate, Ben 4.43Wrong. Let's not fabricate numbers to make a point please.

Please don't question my credibility. I don't appreciate it.Here's the link where I found my facts. CBS could be wrong but I didn't make it up and I have no interest in promoting Tate.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/history...ine/position/RB

Tate, Ben RB

RB 5-11

5-11 220

220 Auburn

4.34 40 yard dash

2.52 20 yard dash

1.49 10 tyard dash

40 1/2 vertical

10'04" long jump

4.12 Shuttle

6.91 Cone

 

[grtwhtsk]

Love the situation. Don't love the talent.I think he could succeed next season because he's a serviceable back with a nice combination of size and speed. I'm not as high on him as I was someone like Shonn Greene last season though and I have personally passed on him in the 1.06-1.07 range in a couple drafts. I just don't think he's a great talent in the long run. There are 5-6 backs with this talent level entering the league every season. It's always a crapshoot with these Brandon Jackson/Frank Gore/Kenny Irons/Clinton Portis middle round picks. Unless I have a strong feeling that they're going to succeed, I pass on them. I don't have that feeling about Tate. I was wrong about Gore and maybe I'm wrong about Ben, but he's definitely not one of "my guys" this year. I've done 5 rookie drafts so far and he hasn't found his way on any of my rosters.

EBF - Who do you like in that 1.06-1.07 range? What do you think of Hardesty in comparison to Tate? Sorry guys, don't mean to thread jack.

 

[Sabertooth]

Believe what you can see. If you look at the depth chart of the Texans and believe Tate has a good shot to sit atop it, pick him and hope for the best. You'd have a good offense that suits his game. If he pans out, he's a poor man's Steven Jackson.

Lots of can't miss prospects bust. Plenty of reaches pan out. Nobody is really a reach just because Kiper says so. They all get picked exactly where they should. Because that is where the picking team picks them.

 

[EBF]

EBF - Who do you like in that 1.06-1.07 range?

Honestly, no one. I just don't like the second tier players much this year. If you're in a league that gives added value to QB or TE then I think you can go Gresham or Bradford there and feel good about it. Otherwise I recommend trading down or trading for a 2011 1st. Last year I really liked Shonn Greene and Percy Harvin as value picks in the 1.07-1.10 range. I don't see a lock like that this year.

What do you think of Hardesty in comparison to Tate?

Not wild about either player. To me they're both very replaceable. On the other hand, you've gotta figure that on opportunity alone one of them might catch lightning in a bottle and skyrocket in value ala A-Train/Forte/Addai. From a talent perspective I think Tate has better speed, but Hardesty looks more quick-footed and instinctive. I think Hardesty is pretty comparable to Joseph Addai with the main difference being that he plays for a craptastic team. He's a high-floor/low-ceiling type whose production will mirror his situation. Tate is much more of a boom/bust guy who could be a complete flop or an "I told you so" smash hit.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

Tate has elite numbers in measureables.

His 40 time at 4.34 is sixth best in last decade.

Tate, Ben 4.43Wrong. Let's not fabricate numbers to make a point please.

Please don't question my credibility. I don't appreciate it.Here's the link where I found my facts. CBS could be wrong but I didn't make it up and I have no interest in promoting Tate.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/history...ine/position/RB

Tate, Ben RB

RB 5-11

5-11 220

220 Auburn

4.34 40 yard dash

2.52 20 yard dash

1.49 10 tyard dash

40 1/2 vertical

10'04" long jump

4.12 Shuttle

6.91 Cone

I'm pretty sure NFL DarftScout, which supplies the numbers for CBS, has screwed this one up. From watching the combine, and all the other news reports, Tate ran the 40 in 4.43, not 4.34. But, it really doesn't matter much. A time of 4.43 is plenty fast for a RB weighing 220 pounds.

I am still not a believer in his talent and still don't think he can block a toddler

I don't know what you base this on but it's the complete opposite of what I have seen. One of the reasons I started looking at him was his success in the blocking drills at the Senior Bowl. He was clearly the best of the RBs and easily stood out.