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Auden Tate is the WR I will be pimping this year -round 2.

slashsteel

slashsteel

Thank you for everything Franco, R I P.
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(Round 1 goes D, perhaps round 2 goes to the other side of the ball)

Eli Rogers might not be back, and Martavis Bryant is in his final year with the Steelers possibly.

With Ben now saying he will be around 2 to 3 more years. This would be a good year to give him and the new WR coach one more WR to play with.

I think Bryant's spot is the most suspect, so what better to bring in a WR who could be his replacement?

Tate played with a second string QB and still managed 10 Tds. At 6'5 225 he could be a nice red zone weapon /option.

Here is Walter Football's write-up on him.
Auden Tate*, WR, Florida State
Height: 6-5. Weight: 225.
Projected 40 Time: 4.56.
Projected Round (2018): 1-3.
1/13/18: Tate totaled 40 receptions for 548 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2017, but he was really impressive. The huge receiver is a mismatch weapon who gives defensive backs a lot of problems. He is very dangerous to win jump balls downfield and is a real red-zone weapon. Tate's numbers were held back in 2017 by playing with the backup quarterback, but Tate has huge potential and upside for the NFL. Some sources think that Tate should have returned to Florida State for 2018 and improved before going to the next level, but he decided to enter the 2018 NFL Draft.
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A young semi raw receiver, very well could be sitting there come the Steelers second round pick.
 
I haven't seen his tape yet, so I can't speak of his hands. 40 receptions seems low, unless he was hurt. Even if he's playing with a backup QB, they were still had a bowl game.

Looks like Tate rocked that stat line in the Independence Bowl: 5 for 84yds 3TDs. That's a positive against a good opponent.
 
Not a bad choice although round two seems a little high to me..

Here is a late Day 2 or Day 3 semi-sleeper wide-out for you guys to remember..

Last name is Valdes-Scantling out of South Florida.

SEASON REC YDS AVG TD
2017 53 879 16.6 6

Plays tall and fast...if number 10 has a relapse again..he would make a nice plan B without using an early pick...
His game mirrors Bryant's..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_XCjHkKG-I
 
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Slash, I already like him 100x better than the receiver the Steelers just met with. Check out this video. He's a hands catcher. That is unheard of for a guy his size. He faces the QB and catches the ball with both hands. I didn't see a single body catch in that video. He also is great at using his size to high point, and adjust his route to get to the ball first (boxing out the DB). He's a big bodied guy already, and looks like he has room to add muscle.

He may be raw, but I like what he's shown in fighting for the football. Don't know how he blocks, and his routes were limited here, but he showed some good quickness on some of them. I'd be surprised if he lasted until our 2nd round pick. From what I see, with his size and hands, I'd have him as a late first rounder, early second rounder.
 
Cope said:
I haven't seen his tape yet, so I can't speak of his hands. 40 receptions seems low, unless he was hurt. Even if he's playing with a backup QB, they were still had a bowl game.

Looks like Tate rocked that stat line in the Independence Bowl: 5 for 84yds 3TDs. That's a positive against a good opponent.
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Will be looking forward to your evaluation. He sounds like a good prospect. OOoooppppsss thanks for the tape and he does "HIGH point" but a different high point than what Martavious use to do..............



Salute the nation
 
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Cope said:


Slash, I already like him 100x better than the receiver the Steelers just met with. Check out this video. He's a hands catcher. That is unheard of for a guy his size. He faces the QB and catches the ball with both hands. I didn't see a single body catch in that video. He also is great at using his size to high point, and adjust his route to get to the ball first (boxing out the DB). He's a big bodied guy already, and looks like he has room to add muscle.

He may be raw, but I like what he's shown in fighting for the football. Don't know how he blocks, and his routes were limited here, but he showed some good quickness on some of them. I'd be surprised if he lasted until our 2nd round pick. From what I see, with his size and hands, I'd have him as a late first rounder, early second rounder.
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He had some small injury issues, and inconsistent QB play. So from being a little raw and this being a decent class I can see him being there late 2. I like how he seems to be able to adjust to the ball well to go with his size and being as you mentioned not a body catcher. I am interested in his combine stats, As you said he might go earlier, but I don't see him sneaking in 1.

Also could very well see him as BPA if sitting there end of 2.
 
steel dino said:
Not a bad choice although round two seems a little high to me..

Here is a late Day 2 or Day 3 semi-sleeper wide-out for you guys to remember..

Last name is Valdes-Scantling out of South Florida.

SEASON REC YDS AVG TD
2017 53 879 16.6 6

Plays tall and fast...if number 10 has a relapse again..he would make a nice plan B without using an early pick...
His game mirrors Bryant's..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_XCjHkKG-I
Click to expand...

Not overly productive for a small school WR, although I see he had a solid bowl and a few other solid games.

He is a height prospect, I think you would like to see a little better red zone production there. But not familiar with his QB to know if that held his production back. Looks like a day 3 prospect. I see he is a combine invite, one to look at his stats there as well............
 
slashsteel said:
He had some small injury issues, and inconsistent QB play. So from being a little raw and this being a decent class I can see him being there late 2. I like how he seems to be able to adjust to the ball well to go with his size and being as you mentioned not a body catcher. I am interested in his combine stats, As you said he might go earlier, but I don't see him sneaking in 1.

Also could very well see him as BPA if sitting there end of 2.
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His combine numbers can only help him. If he tests faster at that size, he's going to rocket up the draft boards. He's young, but he doesn't look unpolished. The way he always puts both hands on the ball, tells me he will have a much lower drop rate that Martavius. I'm also really impressed on how he naturally jumps to high point balls, all over the field, when contested. Some players only high point in the EZ. He'll do it on short crosses or seam balls when he has a man with him. It makes him 8' tall when he does this. It's why I hated Plaxico, because he did the opposite. Rarely jumped, never high pointed the ball, so I called him the shortest 6'6" receiver to play the game. This kid is the opposite. And with good coaching, he would only get better.

His tape looks great to me. I watched his single game tape against NC State, and I liked him more. He amassed those stats in 2Qtrs and 2min before going out with what looked to be a shoulder separation early in the 3rd on that deep ball reception. He ran a much more diverse route tree in this game. Crosses, outs, screen, seam, flag, post. He looked good coming out of his breaks on the shorter patterns. See for yourselves.



I wouldn't spend a first on him, but I'm with you Slash, as a #2 pick, you have to take a long look at him.
 
steel dino said:
Not a bad choice although round two seems a little high to me..

Here is a late Day 2 or Day 3 semi-sleeper wide-out for you guys to remember..

Last name is Valdes-Scantling out of South Florida.

SEASON REC YDS AVG TD
2017 53 879 16.6 6

Plays tall and fast...if number 10 has a relapse again..he would make a nice plan B without using an early pick...
His game mirrors Bryant's..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_XCjHkKG-I
Click to expand...

Hi Dino,

This receiver is a good example to show the differences in his game from Tate. I probably would rate him a 4th-6th rd prospect, and my reasons are simple. He is more of a body catcher, and doesn't rely on his hands on balls thrown to his body frame. This is something that Tate doesn't do. VS will drop balls, and on the highlight real, nearly dropped a couple because of it. That tells me that he probably had a good amount of plays lost because of drops, because his hand positioning is raw. He also plays small, he doesn't jump much and runs a hunched route, so he doesn't even look big on the field. I also don't like his game speed. He doesn't seem to have a high gear and doesn't make defenders miss. He's always tackled before running to the EZ on long plays, and his TDs only seem to be on balls thrown to him in the EZ. I do think he looks like a willing blocker, and that is a plus.

He has potential, but I personally don't see him as a game breaker in the pros.

 
Cope said:
Hi Dino,

This receiver is a good example to show the differences in his game from Tate. I probably would rate him a 4th-6th rd prospect, and my reasons are simple. He is more of a body catcher, and doesn't rely on his hands on balls thrown to his body frame. This is something that Tate doesn't do. VS will drop balls, and on the highlight real, nearly dropped a couple because of it. That tells me that he probably had a good amount of plays lost because of drops, because his hand positioning is raw. He also plays small, he doesn't jump much and runs a hunched route, so he doesn't even look big on the field. I also don't like his game speed. He doesn't seem to have a high gear and doesn't make defenders miss. He's always tackled before running to the EZ on long plays, and his TDs only seem to be on balls thrown to him in the EZ. I do think he looks like a willing blocker, and that is a plus.

He has potential, but I personally don't see him as a game breaker in the pros.

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Agree--he is raw...I actually watched him play a few games and he was a difference maker, albeit against less than stellar competition..and yes his bowl game was impressive against a decent foe..

Definitely a late day 2 or 3 as i mentioned. But we seem to do well in those rounds with WR picks..
 
I'm looking forward to our first offensive player draft pick being around round 5 or 6.
 
CoolieMan said:
I'll pimp my late round choice.....Steven Dunbar Jr out of UH

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I absolutely love his hands Coolie. He wraps those big paws around the ball whenever he can. Two hands in front of his body, great to see. You can speak for this since I don't watch many Houston games, but from his hand positioning, it looks like he'd have very few drops.

He looks fast, but it also like it takes some time for him to reach full speed. His lateral quickness is good, but not elite. He uses his size well, and does a good job of high pointing the ball. His vert is less than Tate's, but I'd be happy with Dunbar as an option.
 
Cope said:
I absolutely love his hands Coolie. He wraps those big paws around the ball whenever he can. Two hands in front of his body, great to see. You can speak for this since I don't watch many Houston games, but from his hand positioning, it looks like he'd have very few drops.

He looks fast, but it also like it takes some time for him to reach full speed. His lateral quickness is good, but not elite. He uses his size well, and does a good job of high pointing the ball. His vert is less than Tate's, but I'd be happy with Dunbar as an option.
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What do you think about that U kid as a return option as a last pick if available?
 
Cope said:
I absolutely love his hands Coolie. He wraps those big paws around the ball whenever he can. Two hands in front of his body, great to see. You can speak for this since I don't watch many Houston games, but from his hand positioning, it looks like he'd have very few drops.

He looks fast, but it also like it takes some time for him to reach full speed. His lateral quickness is good, but not elite. He uses his size well, and does a good job of high pointing the ball. His vert is less than Tate's, but I'd be happy with Dunbar as an option.
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no he doesn't drop the ball...he is not a shifty guy but does have a few moves and can make guys miss. He is also not afraid of ducking his head and trying to run over defenders and is a solid blocker.
 
I know we need defense, but I wouldn't pass on a solid offensive prospect just to pick a third-rate defensive player to fill a need. BPA, always...., unless there is a need player that is reasonably close to the BPA.
 
38 points at home given up after a bye week to blake ******* bortles. The other 7 was the jagoffs fumble return for a td. If they're not **** canning the coaches of that god awful **** show then they had better keep investing in defense. That window is going poof when Ben hangs them up. This pain train is going to get real then.
 
bermudasteel said:
I said it when I saw him - D.J. Chark will be the next superstar...write it down.

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/sports/lsu/article_64c1c2ea-03c1-11e8-a4f6-0746b6eb60ed.html
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DJ has interesting measurables. The gold standard is 6'2" 200lbs. DJ checks the box on height at 6'3" but he is vastly undersized at 187. To me, he'd be a good speed option, but not durable to make every catch over the middle like a JuJu. I did watch his highlights. Here's a link to all his catches in 17':



The first thing that jumps out to me is, he's a body catcher. DJ is more comfortable catching the ball with his body as opposed to using his hands. In the pros, this will lead to drops. He has great speed and nice quickness, and I like him on end arounds or with the ball in his hands on quick screens. His returns look great as well, but being a body catcher, I don't know if I risk him as a PR. KR yes, but he may put balls on the ground with his technique.

One thing I do love about his technique, is he has perfect elbow positioning on balls over his head catching in the 'basket catch/ pinkie to pinkie position". He's making a net with his forearms here and it maximizes the chance at a catch. His elbows are in tight to his body every time.

I currently wouldn't take him before the 4th-5th rd. I strictly see him as a deep ball threat at the next level, until he adds some size and hits the jugs machine daily. I don't trust his technique as a possession receiver, but I do trust him to make deep plays with his speed and excellent deep ball technique.

Edit: I'd compare him to Martavius Bryant coming out of college. He's smaller than Martavius, but a much better runner with the ball in his hands. Their college hand positioning is very comparable as well.
 
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Hey Cope what is your thoughts on the Burnett kid out of USC, JuJu's school? I would think he would be a good slot-sleeper ?
 
give me Anthony Miller, Memphis, WR in a middle round.
hell yes.
 
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