When Randy Moss was traded both Brandon Tate and Aaron Hernandez’s value skyrocketed. Fantasy owners rushed to pick-up these two guys anticipating that they would benefit most. Naturally owners assumed Tate's speed made him the deep threat replacement for Moss and that more emphasis would be placed on getting their top rookie TE Hernandez involved in the receiving game.
Then during their bye week, NE executed the highly speculated trade for D. Branch, the former New England Superbowl MVP, whose career appeared to be winding down over the past couple of years. Now, Branch has always been a darling of New England and it is no secret that both Brady and Belichick love this guy, but no one expected him to step into the NE passing game and immediately make up for Moss’s production. While it was clear Branch’s value increased and that he would take a few targets away from the rest of the receiving corps both Tate and Hernandez were still expected to play bigger roles in the offense.
At this point a few Fantasy owners may have taken flyers on Branch, but it wasn’t the nearly the gold rush that occurred for Tate or Hernandez. That is until after this past weekend’s NE vs Bal game. Branch blew up this weekend and clearly was one of Brady’s favorite targets. They seem to still have great chemistry and Branch was the receiver Brady relied on down the stretch. Hernandez also saw more balls his way and was able to produce. However Tate really didn’t seem involved as much as everyone anticipated. He had a nice reverse and a few targets, but he didn’t appear to be more involved in the offense than he was prior to the bye week.
That said, what are your thoughts on Brandon Tate’s value moving forward? Is he going to be a big play receiver and get more involved in the offense or is he going to need another year or two before he starts becoming fantasy relevant? Who would you roster him over this year?
Personally I like his upside, but NE likes to spread the ball around and he looks like the low man on the totem pole. I think he should have one or two good games, but it will be peppered amongst a few goose eggs in the fantasy score box. I see him as a very high risk high reward guy similar to a D. Alexander however I think Alexander has more upside due to his physical skill set and the fact that St. Louis has had so many injuries to their WR corps. Between Tate and Alexander in who has more value moving forward this season and who would you want for dynasty? I still think it has to be Alexander.
Then during their bye week, NE executed the highly speculated trade for D. Branch, the former New England Superbowl MVP, whose career appeared to be winding down over the past couple of years. Now, Branch has always been a darling of New England and it is no secret that both Brady and Belichick love this guy, but no one expected him to step into the NE passing game and immediately make up for Moss’s production. While it was clear Branch’s value increased and that he would take a few targets away from the rest of the receiving corps both Tate and Hernandez were still expected to play bigger roles in the offense.
At this point a few Fantasy owners may have taken flyers on Branch, but it wasn’t the nearly the gold rush that occurred for Tate or Hernandez. That is until after this past weekend’s NE vs Bal game. Branch blew up this weekend and clearly was one of Brady’s favorite targets. They seem to still have great chemistry and Branch was the receiver Brady relied on down the stretch. Hernandez also saw more balls his way and was able to produce. However Tate really didn’t seem involved as much as everyone anticipated. He had a nice reverse and a few targets, but he didn’t appear to be more involved in the offense than he was prior to the bye week.
That said, what are your thoughts on Brandon Tate’s value moving forward? Is he going to be a big play receiver and get more involved in the offense or is he going to need another year or two before he starts becoming fantasy relevant? Who would you roster him over this year?
Personally I like his upside, but NE likes to spread the ball around and he looks like the low man on the totem pole. I think he should have one or two good games, but it will be peppered amongst a few goose eggs in the fantasy score box. I see him as a very high risk high reward guy similar to a D. Alexander however I think Alexander has more upside due to his physical skill set and the fact that St. Louis has had so many injuries to their WR corps. Between Tate and Alexander in who has more value moving forward this season and who would you want for dynasty? I still think it has to be Alexander.
