Daily NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Ben Tate, RB, Auburn
by Ed Valentine on Apr 10, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
in 2010 NFL Draft
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If you have been stopping by Big Blue View regularly throughout the off-season you know that there is a huge difference of opinion among New York Giants fans about the running back position.
- Should they postpone looking for defensive help and grab Clemson's big-plat threat C.J. Spiller if he is there for them in the first round of the upcoming draft?
- If they pass on Spiller, or don't get a shot at him, how early is too early to grab a running back in the draft?
- Can any of the backs on the Giants roster, including Brandon Jacobs, stay healthy and carry the load as the featured back?
- Has Jacobs begun the inevitable slide all big-time running backs eventually endure? If so, should the Giants look for a power runner who might eventually replace him?
With all of that in mind I have recently added some running backs to the Daily NFL Draft Prospect Profile series. Today, I will add another one.
Auburn's Ben Tate is not a Spiller/Jahvid Best breakaway home-run hitter. He is a 5-foot-11, 220-pound between-the-tackles power back. Might be an intriguing mid-round option, especially as a short-yardage back.
Let's take a closer look.
Ben Tate Scouting Reports
From Draft Countdown.
Very good size and bulk ... Decisive, powerful, downhill runner ... Has a little wiggle in the hole ... Good receiver out of the backfield ... Does not have great vision or instincts ... Lacks explosion ... Isn't very shifty or elusive ... Struggles to get outside and turn the corner ... Not a big play threat.
Intriguing prospect with a nice blend of triangle numbers ... Finally began to live up to his potential as a senior, enjoying the best season of his career and giving his stock a big boost in the process ... Best football may still lie ahead.
From SB Nation's Mocking The Draft.
Tate is at his best when he can work between the tackles. He's a downhill runner who moves with authority.
When you evaluate Tate, throw out his stats. He went from being in a pro-style offense to a spread in his junior and senior seasons. He fits best in an I-formation where he can use his vision and power.
Tate may not have the best speed, but he's an effective player who knows how to gain extra yards after contact.
From NFL.com.
Tate is a hard-nosed runner that does not spend much time dancing around in the backfield. He likes to stick his foot in the ground and hit the hole at the first sign of a running lane opening up. He is a downhill runner that will veer off course as he gets through the hole but is not going to make a lot of people miss once he gets through the hole unless he can just outrun them. He had been considered a bit of an underachiever in the past but came through with a big senior season to raise his status going into this draft.
Why Tate fits with the Giants
Whether or not you believe Jacobs can re-capture his 2007 and 2008 form, the Giants might need to begin thinking about the day when someone other than Jacobs is needed to pound away for tough yards inside. Besides, even with the 265-pound Jacobs the Giants were not very good in short-yardage in 2009. Maybe Tate initially finds a role as a short-yardage back.
Why the Giants should pass
Gartrell Johnson. Tate sounds an awful lot like Johnson -- powerful between the tackles runner who can get the tough yards but lacks elite breakaway speed. If the Giants really like Johnson it would seem a bit redundant to bring a player with similar type skills.
(E-mail Ed at bigblueview@gmail.com. Follow Big Blue View on Twitter.)
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Tho..Gartrell Johnson, Ed?
I mean..looking at the scouting reports its easy to say that, but..and while its not a great indication, Gartrell Johnson ran around a 4.7 40 time, while Tate was running at 4.45 ranges
I just don’t think he was a breakaway threat in college, for whatever reason…but he could be that in the pros.
Penetrating and Devastating!
Maybe so
It just seemed like a similar report, though I really didn’t compare the 40 times.
by Ed Valentine on Apr 10, 2010 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm still on the Deji Karim bandwagon.
For what he brings at that low a pick makes him a superior value to the blue chips. If we want a change of pace back with tremedous return and receiving ability, it’s difficult to find an equal risk/reward(or return on investment) value.
Bleeding Blue since 1962
Agreed
Karim is almost too good to be true.. That kind of talent at such a late round why isn’t everyone interested in him? There’s gotta be a reason why he’s such a late round pick.
Tate doesn’t sound like a bad pick at all. I admittidly(sp?) don’t know much about college ball but he sounds like a new york football giants style rb. A 4.5 isn’t that slow. Hes short, heavy, and fast.. I’m all about it
Lawyer: Peter, Sarah has decided to press sexual harrasssment charges against you.
Peter: Sarah...Is that the one we video taped taking a dump?
by Plaxico Burress on Apr 10, 2010 12:44 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Karim is like a "poor" man's Spiller, with a little more btwn the Tackles ability.
Bleeding Blue since 1962
few reasons...
he played at Southern Illinois, where he racked up 200yd games against Illinois State and Southwest Baptist.
^that’s really not as big a ‘concern’ tho, as we’ve seen from Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward, if you can run..you can be a RB and possibly pretty good too
The big concern is 2009 was basically his only year of college ball. His only other year playing was 2007 where he had 76 carries for 384 yards
That also could be a good thing, not all that much tread on the tires. Either way, a “small college” back with not all that much experience, will be a later round back
Penetrating and Devastating!
by FreeBradshaw on Apr 10, 2010 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm sure you meant "wear" on the tires, not "tread".
That’s an interesting point to bring up, although he did play ball for 2 years at a Junior College. He played little in his first year at SIU and redshirted in the second with an injured knee. He broke out big in his last year and looked tremedous in the Texas vs The Nation game.
I don’t really know how much wear he saved himself from, so I’m not sure I agree on that detail.
I think getting him in the 5th would be a great, great pick if he lasts that long. With his pro day numbers putting him ahead of most of the RB pack in most of the timed drills and tests, someone will take a flyer on him.
Bleeding Blue since 1962
by "not all that much tread"
yea..I meant not all that much wear…kinda always said it the same way. Maybe that’s another one of those NY things?
I agree..I ain’t really trying to knock Karim. Was just stating there’s a few reasons he’s a 5th and later on prospect.
..even tho many of his pro day numbers were quite ridiculous, especially the broad jump and vertical leap (are we sure he’s not Nate Robinson?)
As for the ‘wear’ or ‘tread’, I say that simply cuz he played 2009..and really, 2007 he wasn’t used all that much either. So since 2006 he’s basically got a year of true RB duty.
So compared to even someone like Spiller, who wasn’t a primary back, Karim’s got a lot less wear over his college career.
Penetrating and Devastating!
by FreeBradshaw on Apr 10, 2010 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions
If there isn't much thread on the tires that means they are almost done
as in used up.
by mclaren_is_the_best on Apr 11, 2010 3:04 AM EDT up reply actions
maybe in your language...
to me in means not much tread was used up on the tires.
I dunno where this thread comes in. Or the peanut gallery either.
Penetrating and Devastating!
by FreeBradshaw on Apr 11, 2010 7:41 AM EDT up reply actions
How important is breakaway threat
if we are talking about an eventual replacemwnt at our power back position?
Anyway I like LeGarrette Blount in the later rounds. No character concerns for me, I would love to see him smack the shit out of Terence Newman or Keith Brooking!
Speed makes him Intriguing
also the fact that he can catch the ball – 20 receptions last year, although the longest play was only 19 yards. A decent sized back who can pound away. However, if you want explosiveness, I would agree about Karim.
Mickey C
Pass
Who can we trade besides Osi to get a 2nd or 3rd rounder….maybe Kiwi?Lets do it,because we may need 2 RB’s as it is and one of them being pretty dynamic would be very ideal.Also can’t really see who the diamond in the rough RB that we always seem to be able to find like Jacobs or Braddy would be.This Karim guy looked ok in some of the highlights I saw off him on youtube but I’d love someone better and Karim be the second RB drafted
Umm.....let's think about this...
How would the Giants be helping themselves by stockpiling running backs while getting rid of Kiwi? At the moment we don’t know who the first round pick is, and unless it’s Morgan, you’re subtracting the best rounded (though not most spectacular defensive end of the two choices between Kiwi and Osi). Further, Osi is the one who is on the shorter leash due to his expressions of unhappiness, and Osi is the one who played poorest last year of the the “premier” defensive ends on the club. He’s also the one bothered by a nagging hip problem. So if you get rid of Kiwi, and you haven’t drafted Morgan, you have Tuck coming off a decent, but injury hampered season (thanks for nothing Flossy), and Osi coming off a poor year, when he’s insisting on starting and was slowed by an injury last year and bothered by another, different one, more recently. I don’t see how this benefits the team – it’s kind of like cutting 6" off the left side of a blanket and then sewing the 6" strip back on the right side of the blanket to “make the blanket longer”. You do pick up on one side, but lose the same on the other. I’m all for adding a running back, and if McClain and Morgan are gone, and Spiller is there and Reese think he’s the guy, so be it, do it. But I think one additional running back from the draft is probably about all one should expect, and decreasing the defense, especially by one of the players with better balance (between pass and run defense) isn’t needed to take ONE running back in the draft. Personally, I’d rather see a second linebacker or defensive back taken, before a second running back.
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