Value of Brandon Tate (1 Viewer)

[Avery]

I know the combine is in full swing but many dynasty leagues include FAs in their rookie drafts and like many, I'm not entirely enthralled with this rookie offensive skill position class.

Drafting at the bottom of the first round in a couple of dynasty leagues, I'm looking at available FAs and Brandon Tate seems to be standing out to me as a possible great value as everyone else is drooling over rookie potential. Tate is, however, just as much an unknown in the pros as any rookie. That "unknown" could be "boom" or could be "bust".

Here's some info I dug up on a quick search on Brandon Tate:

From Draftguys.com's "Bloom 100 Final Pre-Draft Version" last year :

29. Brandon Tate, WR, UNC - Not that different than Harvin, expect you’ll get him at least a round later in your rookie draft.

From Bloom's 2009 NFL Draft Grades - AFC East

Best Pick: 3(83) Brandon Tate, WR, North Carolina - I don’t see much of a difference between him and Jeremy Maclin on tape.

From Matt Waldman's The Weekly Gut Check Vol. 155 - Rookie Impact Series: WR

Skills: Tate has enough ability to be among the top five receivers in this rookie class. He's a slick runner after the catch who can make defenders miss in the open field because of his ability to see the field and act decisively like a topflight punt return specialist. He's an excellent vertical and at North Carolina Tate repeatedly demonstrated the ability to get on top of coverage quickly for his quarterback to make a well-time throw. It was Tate, not Hakeem Nicks, who was regarded as the better pro prospect heading into the 2008 college football season.

Obstacles: He tore his ACL and MCL to begin the 2008 season. He might be in good enough shape to participate in training camp, but don't expect him to look like the same athlete until 2010. The good news is Michael Irvin and Reggie Wayne suffered similar injuries and had long, successful careers. Once he does make a complete recovery, Tate will need to work on beat press coverage. He will also need to demonstrate that he's gained enough maturity that he'll make better choices with what he does with his recreational time to comply with the league's drug policy.

Outlook: If he works hard, lays off the marijuana, and regains the stability and strength in the knee Brandon Tate has enough talent to be an adequate heir apparent to Randy Moss in New England. He has much greater value in deep dynasty leagues than he does in re-drafts because fantasy owners have the opportunity to exhibit patience.

Give that Moss is talking about leaving New England on in the near future, Tate seems to have a solid combination ability and opportunity.There's some promising sounding evaluation there but having said that, I'm not a huge NCAA football guy so I would be interested in seeing some opinions on how Tate stacks up against the current crop rookies in the draft.

I know there are there is the obvious caveat "if he is fully recovered", but most football discussion is theoretical in March so let's have at it!

 

[SSOG]

Don't forget that Tate is a badass returner, as well. He owns the NCAA record for combined return yardage despite missing almost all of his senior season.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

a very glass MSW like player.

Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

 

[Avery]

a very glass MSW like player.Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

I got the feeling that was an extension of his previous injury that was not fully healed.Does he have an injury history outside of that?

 

[tarheel1unc]

Tate was "electric" in college, every time he touched the ball. Without the injury history, I would gladly give mid 1st round pick on for him. As is, mid second on. I think he will eventually be a solid receiver for the Pats.

 

[SSOG]

a very glass MSW like player.Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

I think it was probably more of a situation where New England didn't put him on IR to start the season because he wasn't taking up a roster spot, and then they tried to give him a bit of run when he came off the reserve list, but realized they wouldn't be getting much out of him this season so they shut him down for good.

 

[Cassius]

a very glass MSW like player.Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

I think it was probably more of a situation where New England didn't put him on IR to start the season because he wasn't taking up a roster spot, and then they tried to give him a bit of run when he came off the reserve list, but realized they wouldn't be getting much out of him this season so they shut him down for good.

this.i don't know a ton about the depth of this rookie WR class so i can't speak to relative value there, but Tate seems like an excellent player to stash.

 

[Instinctive]

shhhh let me finish acquiring him everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[EBF]

He has the potential to be better than any rookie WR not named Dez Bryant or Demaryius Thomas. That might sound like a controversial statement, but this is a prospect who very well could've been a late 1st-early 2nd round pick if he hadn't shredded his knee. He's a Derrick Mason type. Average size and speed. Good quickness, hands, and mobility. He has starter potential if he can stay healthy and motivated. At this point it's best to view him as a sleeper rather than a sure thing. Don't expect to get him for dirt cheap though. I recently finished a 16 team dynasty startup and he was the 40th WR selected (excluding college prospects).

He's a good player to have at the end of your bench. There's plenty of upside and relatively little risk. I wouldn't go out of my way to trade for him, but he's an ideal throw-in candidate.

 

[Avery]

He has the potential to be better than any rookie WR not named Dez Bryant or Demaryius Thomas. That might sound like a controversial statement, but this is a prospect who very well could've been a late 1st-early 2nd round pick if he hadn't shredded his knee. He's a Derrick Mason type. Average size and speed. Good quickness, hands, and mobility. He has starter potential if he can stay healthy and motivated. At this point it's best to view him as a sleeper rather than a sure thing. Don't expect to get him for dirt cheap though. I recently finished a 16 team dynasty startup and he was the 40th WR selected (excluding college prospects).He's a good player to have at the end of your bench. There's plenty of upside and relatively little risk. I wouldn't go out of my way to trade for him, but he's an ideal throw-in candidate.

I'm having a problem resolving these statements of yours:

He has the potential to be better than any rookie WR not named Dez Bryant or Demaryius Thomas.

There's plenty of upside and relatively little risk.

With this statement:

I wouldn't go out of my way to trade for him, but he's an ideal throw-in candidate.

I'd be interested in a further explanation of why if he has the potential to be so good, with relative little risk, why not go out of your way to get him?

 

[EBF]

He has the potential to be better than any rookie WR not named Dez Bryant or Demaryius Thomas. That might sound like a controversial statement, but this is a prospect who very well could've been a late 1st-early 2nd round pick if he hadn't shredded his knee. He's a Derrick Mason type. Average size and speed. Good quickness, hands, and mobility. He has starter potential if he can stay healthy and motivated. At this point it's best to view him as a sleeper rather than a sure thing. Don't expect to get him for dirt cheap though. I recently finished a 16 team dynasty startup and he was the 40th WR selected (excluding college prospects).He's a good player to have at the end of your bench. There's plenty of upside and relatively little risk. I wouldn't go out of my way to trade for him, but he's an ideal throw-in candidate.

I'm having a problem resolving these statements of yours:

He has the potential to be better than any rookie WR not named Dez Bryant or Demaryius Thomas.

There's plenty of upside and relatively little risk.

With this statement:

I wouldn't go out of my way to trade for him, but he's an ideal throw-in candidate.

I'd be interested in a further explanation of why if he has the potential to be so good, with relative little risk, why not go out of your way to get him?

WR prospects with potential are a dime a dozen. I could rattle off the names of 10-20 cheap players who could be starters in the NFL at some point in the future. If I'm going to specifically target one of these players, I need to think he has a very good chance of succeeding. I like Tate's talent, but he hasn't caught an NFL pass yet and it remains to be seen if his knee will hold up. These factors are enough to temper my enthusiasm a little bit.

 

[az_prof]

I find it hard to get excited about Tate. He had a chance and did nothing. He has a shredded knee. He might turn it around but there are about 70 guys I like better.

 

[Cassius]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

 

[thevidon]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

He is completely ignorant of the situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

 

[az_prof]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

He is completely ignorant of the situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Enlighten me. What exactly did Tate do in his rookie year?

 

[Don Quixote]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

He is completely ignorant of the situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Enlighten me. What exactly did Tate do in his rookie year?

Exactly what everyone expected... sit out the year recovering from torn ACL and MCL.

 

[Cleat Spike]

a very glass HALF FULL MSW like player.

Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

Fixed it. Just like MSW, patients my son!

 

[Cleat Spike]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

He is completely ignorant of the situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Enlighten me. What exactly did Tate do in his rookie year?

Gotta do your Tate background check first. Everyone in here already has in late '07.

 

[munchkin]

a very glass MSW like player.

Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

I think it was probably more of a situation where New England didn't put him on IR to start the season because he wasn't taking up a roster spot, and then they tried to give him a bit of run when he came off the reserve list, but realized they wouldn't be getting much out of him this season so they shut him down for good.

This makes the most sense. Supposedly, Tate did not sustain a new injury. Mike Reiss stated a "rumor" in one of his blogs regarding Tate stating the team put him back on IR presumably to heal the original injury. I believe the way Reiss stated it was that Tate was quoted as saying he hadn't sustained an injury but the team took him off the active roster and put him on IR. They probably realized he wasn't going to give them much and it was safer to let him heal and go into the OTA's at full strength.

 

[PranksterJD]

a very glass HALF FULL MSW like player.

Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

Fixed it. Just like MSW, patients my son!

Fairly amusing typo here, given we're talking about "injury prone" players.

 

[Cassius]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

He is completely ignorant of the situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Enlighten me. What exactly did Tate do in his rookie year?

Exactly what everyone expected... sit out the year recovering from torn ACL and MCL.

He wasn't drafted to do anything in 2009. Saying he "had his shot" is just declaring you have no idea what you're talking about regarding Tate.

 

[StackTheLine]

a very glass MSW like player.

Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

Yes, I think he had the knee scoped also.

He left the Dolphins game with another knee injury, his final play coming in the second quarter when he darted down the middle of the field and the ball was thrown to Welker underneath. It wasn't a situation in which Tate was carted off the field or even fell to the ground in apparent pain. He simply retreated to the sideline and was placed on season-ending injured reserve later that week. His status has generally flown under the radar since that point.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nfl/colum...&id=4916671

 

[Couch Potato]

This is my first reading of this thread. It doesn't surprise me one little bit that BSS and AzProf come out against Tate. LOL. Nothing new under the sun.

I got the same noise last year from BSS in my MSW thread, arguing why he'd always be an injury prone nobody (not sure if AzProf posted in that thread or not, but I've seen this routine from him in similar sleeper topics). Seems there would be something learned by missing out on MSW and others, but I guess not.

They don't bother to educate themselves before puking out an opinion, and require a season of amazing production before they get interested. Nice and safe. Obviously, by then its way too late.

Everybody around here has a right to post things, but I gotta tell you, these kinds of glass empty guys just need to be ignored. I know you two are gonna be pissed at this post, but I don't really care. Eff the niceties, I'm in the mood today to finally just tell it like it is.

Tate's upside potential, based on talent, future opportunity, and the QB that will be throwing the ball, is very strong. He's exactly the kind of unproven roster stash you want.

 

[SSOG]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

He is completely ignorant of the situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Enlighten me. What exactly did Tate do in his rookie year?

The "seriously?" wasn't aimed at the "he did nothing" part of your sentence, because everyone knows he did nothing. The "seriously?" was aimed at the "he had a chance" part of your sentence, because he didn't. The guy played in 2 games as a rookie while still struggling through knee injuries that New England almost shut him down for the entire season for (and eventually did wind up shutting him down for the whole season for). If that's what passes for "a chance" these days, then the Jets should just cut Mark Sanchez outright, because that dude's already had 16 chances and he still hasn't produced. How many chances are they going to give him?Let's repeat this. Tate tore his ACL and MCL. Most league insiders expected him to spend the entire season in IR. The Patriots decided not to IR him right away, knowing full well he'd still be working through the injury, because for the first 8 weeks he wasn't taking up a roster spot (he was on a reserve/injured list). After the first 8 weeks, the Patriots faced a choice of whether to let him play or to shut him down for the rest of the season. They decided to give him a little bit of run as their #5 WR, behind Moss, Welker, Edelman, and Aiken. The rookie 3rd round pick #5 WR still healing from an injury played in 2 games before the Pats decided to shut him down after all. That's not "a chance". Not a legitimate chance, anyway.Worth noting that Tate did handle 4 kickoffs in his two games and posted the highest yards/return of any Patriot for the season, too. For whatever that's worth. He also had more yards on offense in his two games than Meachem did in his entire rookie season. Again, for whatever that's worth.

 

[Sabertooth]

Let's repeat this. Tate tore his ACL and MCL. Most league insiders expected him to spend the entire season in IR. The Patriots decided not to IR him right away, knowing full well he'd still be working through the injury, because for the first 8 weeks he wasn't taking up a roster spot (he was on a reserve/injured list). After the first 8 weeks, the Patriots faced a choice of whether to let him play or to shut him down for the rest of the season. They decided to give him a little bit of run as their #5 WR, behind Moss, Welker, Edelman, and Aiken. The rookie 3rd round pick #5 WR still healing from an injury played in 2 games before the Pats decided to shut him down after all. That's not "a chance". Not a legitimate chance, anyway.Worth noting that Tate did handle 4 kickoffs in his two games and posted the highest yards/return of any Patriot for the season, too. For whatever that's worth. He also had more yards on offense in his two games than Meachem did in his entire rookie season. Again, for whatever that's worth.

He is in fact floating on the waiver wire in my dynasty league. He may be worth a shot. I've got a glut of mediocre receivers but right now, but that is what happens. When you have 10 guys, you have none is really where I am at right now. Why not 11? I've got the other positions pretty much dialed in.

 

[David Yudkin]

Fantasy wise I don't think Tate will be a great option anytime soon. I think he will be a third or fourth receiver for NE and decent return guy, not an every down go to receiver. So another Stallworth or Gaffney type that returns kicks. I'd love to be wrong and hope he does better, but that's what I see in the near future over the next few years.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

This is my first reading of this thread. It doesn't surprise me one little bit that BSS and AzProf come out against Tate. LOL. Nothing new under the sun.I got the same noise last year from BSS in my MSW thread, arguing why he'd always be an injury prone nobody (not sure if AzProf posted in that thread or not, but I've seen this routine from him in similar sleeper topics). Seems there would be something learned by missing out on MSW and others, but I guess not. They don't bother to educate themselves before puking out an opinion, and require a season of amazing production before they get interested. Nice and safe. Obviously, by then its way too late. Everybody around here has a right to post things, but I gotta tell you, these kinds of glass empty guys just need to be ignored. I know you two are gonna be pissed at this post, but I don't really care. Eff the niceties, I'm in the mood today to finally just tell it like it is.Tate's upside potential, based on talent, future opportunity, and the QB that will be throwing the ball, is very strong. He's exactly the kind of unproven roster stash you want.

I gave you credit for sticking by your guns on MSW Not sure why you think Id be pissed? Look Tate needs to get healthy first to even have an opportunity. And his injuries are way more serious than anything MSW had. Sometimes I think people like you that pick pet little players need to have thicker skin, and for the record I own MSW in 2 dynasties and Tate in 0To answer the OPs question I think I would take at least he following before B.Tate in a Rookie/FA draftezGolden TateBennD.ThomasLaFellGilyardD.WilliamsAdd in the top RBs and Top TEs and QBs. You are looking at about rookie pick 25 or so before Id even consider him.Now CP my first post might have been short and should of been better, ill agree

 

[loose circuits]

a very glass MSW like player.

Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

Yes, I think he had the knee scoped also.

He left the Dolphins game with another knee injury, his final play coming in the second quarter when he darted down the middle of the field and the ball was thrown to Welker underneath. It wasn't a situation in which Tate was carted off the field or even fell to the ground in apparent pain. He simply retreated to the sideline and was placed on season-ending injured reserve later that week. His status has generally flown under the radar since that point.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nfl/colum...&id=4916671

why are people in this thread acting like this didn't happen? He had a setback and that is why he was placed on IR. Randy wasn't Randy, they needed the receiving help. They played 2 raw former QB's at WR after that and a journeyman ST's guy.i own Tate, but am not really expecting anything. I think the Pats rushed him back too soon and sometimes that can lead to serious long term issues. He's a good wildcard to have, but I don't think I'd trade a mid-2nd round pick for him.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

a very glass MSW like player.

Didnt he get banged up again in like week10 and get placed on IR?

Yes, I think he had the knee scoped also.

He left the Dolphins game with another knee injury, his final play coming in the second quarter when he darted down the middle of the field and the ball was thrown to Welker underneath. It wasn't a situation in which Tate was carted off the field or even fell to the ground in apparent pain. He simply retreated to the sideline and was placed on season-ending injured reserve later that week. His status has generally flown under the radar since that point.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nfl/colum...&id=4916671

why are people in this thread acting like this didn't happen? He had a setback and that is why he was placed on IR. Randy wasn't Randy, they needed the receiving help. They played 2 raw former QB's at WR after that and a journeyman ST's guy.i own Tate, but am not really expecting anything. I think the Pats rushed him back too soon and sometimes that can lead to serious long term issues. He's a good wildcard to have, but I don't think I'd trade a mid-2nd round pick for him.

Not sure, people seem to think it was that he wasnt ready from the first injury and he probably wasnt.

 

[thecardiackid]

I'm stashing him in a couple of leagues.

How soon we forget:

Could be a RAC freak (ala Boldin) w/ one of the better QBs in the NFL, if he doesn't get *stuck* returning kicks most of the time. And the WR situation in NE looks very wide open - especially if Moss melts down and leaves sooner than later. Tate has great vision (probably from returning a lot of kicks), nice burst, and NFL WR speed (not a burner, but enough to get it done).

I'll admit I don't watch lots of college ball, especially UNC, so I only have the highlights and don't know much about his 'average' plays. The main issue is, can he come back from a very serious knee injury? It seems like the Pats have been conservative w/ him thus far, and I'll trust in BB since he 'reached' for a guy even w/ a shreaded knee - knowing he'd have to wait at least a year to get results.

There are a lot worse bets as dynasty stashes, but IMO 2011 will provide the payoff - so you need to be patient.

 

[SSOG]

why are people in this thread acting like this didn't happen? He had a setback and that is why he was placed on IR. Randy wasn't Randy, they needed the receiving help. They played 2 raw former QB's at WR after that and a journeyman ST's guy.i own Tate, but am not really expecting anything. I think the Pats rushed him back too soon and sometimes that can lead to serious long term issues. He's a good wildcard to have, but I don't think I'd trade a mid-2nd round pick for him.

Not sure, people seem to think it was that he wasnt ready from the first injury and he probably wasnt.

I remember seeing replays of the play where he got "injured" and it looked like a regular play to me. Couple that with New England's long history of putting rookies and 2nd year players on IR for a hangnail, and I've just been operating under the impression that his new "injury" was nothing new at all, and that Tate could have easily finished out the season if the Pats thought they could have used him on game days.When I picked him up before last season, I was fully expecting him to sit out the entire year. Don't know why I'd downgrade him for sitting out pretty much the entire year. If anything, I think we should be upgrading him because that's now behind him (sort of like how in week 4 you upgrade the players who had week 3 byes because their bye is now behind them).

 

[az_prof]

He had a chance and did nothing.

Seriously?

He is completely ignorant of the situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Enlighten me. What exactly did Tate do in his rookie year?

Gotta do your Tate background check first. Everyone in here already has in late '07.

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

 

[SSOG]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

 

[bigums]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

And that was AFTER sitting out most of his senior year and with the knowledge that he would probably not be ready to play until 2010. To me, that shows a pretty high level of commitment to the guy from the NE side. Whether that's warranted is still yet to be seen, I guess.

 

[Kit Fisto]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

And that was AFTER sitting out most of his senior year and with the knowledge that he would probably not be ready to play until 2010. To me, that shows a pretty high level of commitment to the guy from the NE side. Whether that's warranted is still yet to be seen, I guess.

All I've ever heard about the guy is (and I'm paraphrasing)... "If you think Hakeem Nicks is good, Brandon Tate was the NC WR everyone was talking about before he got hurt."Hakeem Nicks was routinely the 1st or 2nd WR off Dynasty WR Boards last summer. When healthy, he's better than Hicks? I'll stash a guy like that in my 8-spot all day long.

 

[az_prof]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

I penalized McGahee in general because the severity of his injury was SO serious. And truly he is not the player he was in college. But the fact that McGahee ended up a first round pick tells me that Buffalo saw his recovery progress and felt confident in his talent and future ability. Tate was a third round pick. I don't think the analogy is fair or Tate would have been an elite pick despite his injury. NE and every other team downgraded him and he has yet to show anything. He's worth a deep flyer/sleeper but I can't understand why we have a long thread on a guy like this when there are 70 other guys who are equally as promising.

 

[az_prof]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

And that was AFTER sitting out most of his senior year and with the knowledge that he would probably not be ready to play until 2010. To me, that shows a pretty high level of commitment to the guy from the NE side. Whether that's warranted is still yet to be seen, I guess.

Reminds me of Chad Jackson... Not sure why I am wasting my time arguing...I guess because it's off season and we are all bored...but NE hasn't exactly done a great job of drafting WRs lately. Personally, I would rather have ever WR on Chicago because I know one or two of them is going to explode with Cutler and Martz and it could be any one of them.

 

[Avery]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

I penalized McGahee in general because the severity of his injury was SO serious. And truly he is not the player he was in college. But the fact that McGahee ended up a first round pick tells me that Buffalo saw his recovery progress and felt confident in his talent and future ability. Tate was a third round pick. I don't think the analogy is fair or Tate would have been an elite pick despite his injury. NE and every other team downgraded him and he has yet to show anything. He's worth a deep flyer/sleeper but I can't understand why we have a long thread on a guy like this when there are 70 other guys who are equally as promising.

Not to be snarky, but then go ahead and start a thread on one of those 70 other guys you're interested in. If you don't think this topic is worthy of a long thread then don't contribute to it.I'm intrigued by B. Tate who is sitting on the waiver wire and I can get for nothing now. Clearly I'm not alone in that and I think it makes for some interesting off season discussion.

 

[FUBAR]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

I penalized McGahee in general because the severity of his injury was SO serious. And truly he is not the player he was in college. But the fact that McGahee ended up a first round pick tells me that Buffalo saw his recovery progress and felt confident in his talent and future ability. Tate was a third round pick. I don't think the analogy is fair or Tate would have been an elite pick despite his injury. NE and every other team downgraded him and he has yet to show anything. He's worth a deep flyer/sleeper but I can't understand why we have a long thread on a guy like this when there are 70 other guys who are equally as promising.

Care to list the 70 other young players you can get for similar value who have equal or better potential? FWIW, I just essentially traded Malcolm Kelly for him, so there's one - you name the other 69.ETA: I have Moss in another league and tried trading for Tate, guy wants a high 2nd for him which honestly is about right. I just don't have a high 2nd to give

 

[Sweet Love]

I did. I picked him up as a FA and then dropped him after he went to IR. Spin it however you like but when a rookie WR does NOTHING and ends up being IR'd, it isn't a good sign. I fully expect NE to draft a WR to compete and it isn't like he is an elite player or pick.

Again, when he was drafted, people were FULLY EXPECTING him to do nothing as a rookie and spend the season on IR. Did you penalize Willis McGahee for "having a chance" and doing nothing his first season, too?Also, EBF classifies WRs as "elite picks" if they get taken among the first 100 selections. Brandon Tate was taken 83rd overall.

And that was AFTER sitting out most of his senior year and with the knowledge that he would probably not be ready to play until 2010. To me, that shows a pretty high level of commitment to the guy from the NE side. Whether that's warranted is still yet to be seen, I guess.

All I've ever heard about the guy is (and I'm paraphrasing)... "If you think Hakeem Nicks is good, Brandon Tate was the NC WR everyone was talking about before he got hurt."Hakeem Nicks was routinely the 1st or 2nd WR off Dynasty WR Boards last summer. When healthy, he's better than Hicks? I'll stash a guy like that in my 8-spot all day long.

That is what most observers here in NC agree upon, although I will say that while Nix did get an oppy to be featured his last year in NC due to Tate's injury, and Tate was the go-to out of the two, I still think Nix will make the better pro and in just the receiving game, I am not sure whether Tate would have had as good of a year as Nix had the tables been turned. Still a good prospect nonetheless.