Kontradiction
4x Covid Survivor
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2009
- Messages
- 2,100
- Reaction score
- 2,318
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Jacksonville Beach, Florida
I posted this on the other forum, and I figured I might as well post it here too.
Well, it's the offseason and I'm bored. I figured I would start a thread where we can take extensive looks at the bodies who will be thrown into the hat as competition for the position that's lining up to be the most interesting thing to watch during TC and the preseason: wide receiver. We already know what we're going to get out of Moss, Welker (when healthy), Edelman, Aiken (praying he doesn't see the field as anything more than a WR5 when we go five wide), Holt, and Patten. It's time to take a look at guys like Tate, Price, and Hernandez. At the very least, one of these guys will be seeing EXTENSIVE reps in the starting line-up as the year goes on. First, let's take a look at the guy who appears to be the front-runner for the split-end position as of right now, Mr. Brandon Tate...
1. Brandon Tate:
YouTube - Brandon Tate (pay attention to the 2:26 mark)
YouTube - Brandon Tate UNC Football
YouTube - Brandon Tate Kickoff Return TD
2. Taylor Price:
YouTube - WR Taylor Price vs Tennessee Volunteers 2009
3. Aaron Hernandez:
YouTube - Aaron Hernandez Highlights
YouTube - Aaron Hernandez 2009
YouTube - Aaron Hernandez Florida Gators
YouTube - Florida Gators Aaron Hernandez 1st quater touchdown
--------------------------------------------------
Overview and Analysis:
After having watched these videos and other various clips of these players on television or through this website, I feel I can pick apart what appears to be these players' strengths as well as their weaknesses.
Brandon Tate is a dual threat at both KR/PR and WR. As a KR/PR, there isn't much NOT to like based on these videos and college tape. Tate has breakaway ability, excellent straight line speed, very good lateral movement, and elusiveness. Tate also showed the ability to take the ball directly upfield when he gets the ball into his hands and doesn't seem like he cares very much for dancing. Also, you should keep in mind that UNC did not have the best KR and PR units during his time there. As a WR, Tate again shows his excellent straight line speed. At UNC, Tate was the epitome of a deep threat. He showed an almost alarming ability to get behind defenses for big gains and/or TD's. As both a return man and a WR, Tate has also showed the ability to get off jams clean and also shows the ability to break tackles exceptionally well for a 195 lb. receiver. Some concerns I have for Tate based on what I've seen on this video are the fact that I haven't seen either a willingness or the ability to go over the middle of the field for the tough yards. Now, granted, I haven't seen everything on Tate and I'm sure there are plenty of instances where he has, indeed gone over the middle, but I haven't seen it in these videos or in the scouting tapes that I have watched. He just seems more like a thoroughbred type who likes gaining his paydays on taking the defense deep for huge gains. Based on what little time he saw on the field with the Pats last season, Tate DID show the ability to get behind the defense. So that aspect of his game SHOULD translate to our offense so long as the knee is healed. However, as the split-end on his team, he is going to be expected to go over he middle and show the ability to run crisp, clean routes. Another red flag I saw of him was when I was watching the Hakeem Nicks and other UNC highlights. Tate did block but he didn't seem like a tenacious blocker. Hopefully he can work on that area of his game, because we're going to need him as a blocker for our screen game, should he win the WR3 job.
Next up is Taylor Price. Unfortunately, I could only find one YouTube video that showed Price in actual game conditions (vs. Tennessee), but I liked what I saw. With Price, we drafted a guy who could threaten all levels of the defense. He can threaten down the field, up the seam, or over the middle for the tough yards. He actually seemed like he ENJOYED going over the middle, which is a great thing for us. He has the speed to beat corners down the field in a foot race and the strength to get off jams at the line of scrimmage. When catching the ball, Price shows the ability to take big hits and hold onto the ball for a change of downs. Another strength in Price's game seems to be his blocking. At one point in the video, he chips his man, then breaks off and bulldozes the safety. Price seems to be a tenacious blocker who enjoys doing the dirty work which is a requirement for our offense. Another aspect of Price's game which he had to fine tune due to terrible quarterbacking at the University of Ohio was his ability to adjust to a poorly thrown pass. He showed that ability more than a few times in this highlight video (ability to adjust to passes behind, in front, or over him). He also showed a willingness to put his body on the line for the tough catch. Based on this video, I didn't really see any negatives that come to mind, and this includes his route running. I'm sure the coaching staff will be able to find something, though.
Last, but not least, is my boy Aaron Hernandez. As most of you probably know by now, I've grown up a Gator fan and watched Hernandez's entire career. I know I've already done an extensive write-up on him, but I figured I'd do it again. Hernandez is going to threaten muliple areas of the field for us. He can and will line up in both the slot as a slot receiver and on the line of scrimmage as a tight end. Hernandez has the size to create mismatches on undersized corners. He was and will be a huge threat to opposing defenses running a fade route against undersized corners in the red zone. He also had the athleticism and speed to create mismatches on linebackers. As a Gator, Hernandez made his living on making the tough catches in the middle of the field. He loved it. If Welker misses any time at the beginning of the season, we're going to need Hernandez to step right in and do just that. He also threatened the seam at Florida, taking advantage of linebackers that were unable to keep up with him. Another area that Hernandez was effective in was in the draw game. Hernandez showed the ability to come out of the backfield and take it straight up the A-Gap for some tough gains. Like Tate, Hernandez has shown some unbelievably soft hands. He can pretty much catch anything that's thrown his way. Also, like Tate, Hernandez can shed tackles. Against smaller corners and safeties, it will typically take more than one man to bring him down. The area that he has to work on is pretty well known: his blocking. With the TE's we have on the roster now (Crumpler, one of the better blocking TE's in the game, and Gronk who is supposed to be a willing and able blocker), that area won't be too much of a red flag when he lines up on the LOS. But, when lined up in the slot, he needs to improve in order to help out in our screen game. He'll be working with some of the better coaches in the NFL in that area though and, with time, hopefully we should see an improvement.
Well, it's the offseason and I'm bored. I figured I would start a thread where we can take extensive looks at the bodies who will be thrown into the hat as competition for the position that's lining up to be the most interesting thing to watch during TC and the preseason: wide receiver. We already know what we're going to get out of Moss, Welker (when healthy), Edelman, Aiken (praying he doesn't see the field as anything more than a WR5 when we go five wide), Holt, and Patten. It's time to take a look at guys like Tate, Price, and Hernandez. At the very least, one of these guys will be seeing EXTENSIVE reps in the starting line-up as the year goes on. First, let's take a look at the guy who appears to be the front-runner for the split-end position as of right now, Mr. Brandon Tate...
1. Brandon Tate:
YouTube - Brandon Tate (pay attention to the 2:26 mark)
YouTube - Brandon Tate UNC Football
YouTube - Brandon Tate Kickoff Return TD
2. Taylor Price:
YouTube - WR Taylor Price vs Tennessee Volunteers 2009
3. Aaron Hernandez:
YouTube - Aaron Hernandez Highlights
YouTube - Aaron Hernandez 2009
YouTube - Aaron Hernandez Florida Gators
YouTube - Florida Gators Aaron Hernandez 1st quater touchdown
--------------------------------------------------
Overview and Analysis:
After having watched these videos and other various clips of these players on television or through this website, I feel I can pick apart what appears to be these players' strengths as well as their weaknesses.
Brandon Tate is a dual threat at both KR/PR and WR. As a KR/PR, there isn't much NOT to like based on these videos and college tape. Tate has breakaway ability, excellent straight line speed, very good lateral movement, and elusiveness. Tate also showed the ability to take the ball directly upfield when he gets the ball into his hands and doesn't seem like he cares very much for dancing. Also, you should keep in mind that UNC did not have the best KR and PR units during his time there. As a WR, Tate again shows his excellent straight line speed. At UNC, Tate was the epitome of a deep threat. He showed an almost alarming ability to get behind defenses for big gains and/or TD's. As both a return man and a WR, Tate has also showed the ability to get off jams clean and also shows the ability to break tackles exceptionally well for a 195 lb. receiver. Some concerns I have for Tate based on what I've seen on this video are the fact that I haven't seen either a willingness or the ability to go over the middle of the field for the tough yards. Now, granted, I haven't seen everything on Tate and I'm sure there are plenty of instances where he has, indeed gone over the middle, but I haven't seen it in these videos or in the scouting tapes that I have watched. He just seems more like a thoroughbred type who likes gaining his paydays on taking the defense deep for huge gains. Based on what little time he saw on the field with the Pats last season, Tate DID show the ability to get behind the defense. So that aspect of his game SHOULD translate to our offense so long as the knee is healed. However, as the split-end on his team, he is going to be expected to go over he middle and show the ability to run crisp, clean routes. Another red flag I saw of him was when I was watching the Hakeem Nicks and other UNC highlights. Tate did block but he didn't seem like a tenacious blocker. Hopefully he can work on that area of his game, because we're going to need him as a blocker for our screen game, should he win the WR3 job.
Next up is Taylor Price. Unfortunately, I could only find one YouTube video that showed Price in actual game conditions (vs. Tennessee), but I liked what I saw. With Price, we drafted a guy who could threaten all levels of the defense. He can threaten down the field, up the seam, or over the middle for the tough yards. He actually seemed like he ENJOYED going over the middle, which is a great thing for us. He has the speed to beat corners down the field in a foot race and the strength to get off jams at the line of scrimmage. When catching the ball, Price shows the ability to take big hits and hold onto the ball for a change of downs. Another strength in Price's game seems to be his blocking. At one point in the video, he chips his man, then breaks off and bulldozes the safety. Price seems to be a tenacious blocker who enjoys doing the dirty work which is a requirement for our offense. Another aspect of Price's game which he had to fine tune due to terrible quarterbacking at the University of Ohio was his ability to adjust to a poorly thrown pass. He showed that ability more than a few times in this highlight video (ability to adjust to passes behind, in front, or over him). He also showed a willingness to put his body on the line for the tough catch. Based on this video, I didn't really see any negatives that come to mind, and this includes his route running. I'm sure the coaching staff will be able to find something, though.
Last, but not least, is my boy Aaron Hernandez. As most of you probably know by now, I've grown up a Gator fan and watched Hernandez's entire career. I know I've already done an extensive write-up on him, but I figured I'd do it again. Hernandez is going to threaten muliple areas of the field for us. He can and will line up in both the slot as a slot receiver and on the line of scrimmage as a tight end. Hernandez has the size to create mismatches on undersized corners. He was and will be a huge threat to opposing defenses running a fade route against undersized corners in the red zone. He also had the athleticism and speed to create mismatches on linebackers. As a Gator, Hernandez made his living on making the tough catches in the middle of the field. He loved it. If Welker misses any time at the beginning of the season, we're going to need Hernandez to step right in and do just that. He also threatened the seam at Florida, taking advantage of linebackers that were unable to keep up with him. Another area that Hernandez was effective in was in the draw game. Hernandez showed the ability to come out of the backfield and take it straight up the A-Gap for some tough gains. Like Tate, Hernandez has shown some unbelievably soft hands. He can pretty much catch anything that's thrown his way. Also, like Tate, Hernandez can shed tackles. Against smaller corners and safeties, it will typically take more than one man to bring him down. The area that he has to work on is pretty well known: his blocking. With the TE's we have on the roster now (Crumpler, one of the better blocking TE's in the game, and Gronk who is supposed to be a willing and able blocker), that area won't be too much of a red flag when he lines up on the LOS. But, when lined up in the slot, he needs to improve in order to help out in our screen game. He'll be working with some of the better coaches in the NFL in that area though and, with time, hopefully we should see an improvement.
