Death to Google Ads! Texans Talk Tip Jar! 🍺😎👍
Thanks for your support!

What has happened with Tate?

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
Dude 's been healthy for weeks but kubiak has been giving him limited touches and even when he does get his touches, he's looked bad. I'm talking missing holes and cutback lanes, not able to turn the corner like he did last year...he just looks awful.
 

TexansBull

Hall of Fame
I have been wondering the same thing? Is it because he cannot get into rythm because he doesn't get enough carries?

Can we get a 2nd round pick for him? What a about a first?
 

TexanSam

Hall of Fame
I have been wondering the same thing? Is it because he cannot get into rythm because he doesn't get enough carries?

Can we get a 2nd round pick for him? What a about a first?
I don't think we would get anything better than a 5th round pick for him. He's been hurt two out of three years and any trade value he had has plunged this season.
 

EllisUnit

Vote RED!!!
Hmmm i think they are not playing him much so he is cheaper to resign maybe ???

I dunno really i think its cause he got hurt and then we started to struggle and Kubiak problably is more confident in Foster to make game changing plays that tate.
 

Texecutioner

Hall of Fame
Resign him. The guy can play. Don't know what is happening as of lately. Maybe he has lost confidence, but I haven't seen him look as bad as others.

I hate the way that Kubiak has ran Foster this season though. We had Forsett healthy for most of the season and he's a good change of pace back. Foster is going to be done after two more seasons possibly. I think we need to go towards a committee approach more next season.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Dude 's been healthy for weeks but kubiak has been giving him limited touches and even when he does get his touches, he's looked bad. I'm talking missing holes and cutback lanes, not able to turn the corner like he did last year...he just looks awful.
He went Vegan! :hides:
 

HJam72

Hall of Fame
Is he really missing lanes, or is he just not superhuman Foster? I saw Foster makes some pretty ridiculous moves to finally find a lane by pretty much pulling it outta his @$$ yesterday. Tate is good, but he just can't move like THAT. I don't really think the run-blocking was THAT great yesterday. It was good, but not great on the left side, and, IMO, sub-par on the right side.

Granted, that is some kinda D-Line we had to run against...
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
Resign him.
Tate is signed through 2013.

Whether it's injuries or whatever, Tate has sucked this season. He never showed the explosiveness from 2011. Plus, Tate doesn't give you anything as a receiver or a blocker. If Tate turns it around in 2013, I doubt the Texans could afford to keep him. If he doesn't, why bother re-signing him? Next year will likely be Tate's last as a Texan either way.
 

playa465

Veteran
I think Tate needs more carries to get into the flow of the game. Coming in for 1 play every 8 or 9 plays (guessing) is not going to do it.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
I think Tate needs more carries to get into the flow of the game. Coming in for 1 play every 8 or 9 plays (guessing) is not going to do it.
What has he done to deserve more playing time? Bringing Tate in keys the defense that a run is likely coming, as he is a poor receiver and blocker. If Tate is not kicking ass as a runner (and he's not), then the only reason he should come in is to give Foster a breather.
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
Is he really missing lanes, or is he just not superhuman Foster? I saw Foster makes some pretty ridiculous moves to finally find a lane by pretty much pulling it outta his @$$ yesterday. Tate is good, but he just can't move like THAT. I don't really think the run-blocking was THAT great yesterday. It was good, but not great on the left side, and, IMO, sub-par on the right side.

Granted, that is some kinda D-Line we had to run against...
No he's missing lanes...his vision is just terrible...
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
Tate has not had enough touches to get with the program, and this O-Line is making it a little harder on our RBs than last year's line. Last year's line played better as a unit -- T/G unit, G/C unit.

.
 
Last edited:

gafftop

All Pro
Just kind of reminds me of a runaway bull, no vision what so ever.
Better question may be what happened to Forsett. I think he has done better this year than Tate.
 

powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
No he's missing lanes...his vision is just terrible...
His vision isn't nearly as good as fosters...no ones is. But this season the holes are smaller and evaporate faster. Foster can compensate for it way better because of his vision. I love that tate runs angry, it's fun to watch. He's not nearly as explosive as we've seen in the past. Our line isnt getting to the second level and forcing defensive backs to make plays against the run....and tate eats defensive backs for lunch...or did.
 

JCTexan

Hall of Fame
Just kind of reminds me of a runaway bull, no vision what so ever.
Better question may be what happened to Forsett. I think he has done better this year than Tate.
Easy. He's been relegated to third string with Tate back. Forsett didn't get one carry against the Bengals, Tate only got two.
 

gafftop

All Pro
Easy. He's been relegated to third string with Tate back. Forsett didn't get one carry against the Bengals, Tate only got two.
I know he is 3rd string but I think Forsett would be more effective than Tate under the circumstances.
 

playa465

Veteran
What has he done to deserve more playing time? Bringing Tate in keys the defense that a run is likely coming, as he is a poor receiver and blocker. If Tate is not kicking ass as a runner (and he's not), then the only reason he should come in is to give Foster a breather.
Some RBs need more than a carry to get going. If he gets 2yds on his first carry doesn't mean he wouldn't be effective over a series.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Some RBs need more than a carry to get going. If he gets 2yds on his first carry doesn't mean he wouldn't be effective over a series.
That wasn't the case last year. You put him on the field, cold, he'd break a 30 yard run for a TD.


Besides, I think he's still not 100%.
 

GP

Go Texans!
I don't know why this team isn't running more 2 RB sets, honestly.

You could still have 3 receivers out there...take your pick: AJ, OD, Graham or Walter or Posey or Casey.

With a 2 RB set, you could do sooooo many things to confuse defenses:

(A) You could run Tate

(B) You could run Foster

(C) You could fake to either of those guys and run a playaction off of it.

(D) Both guys could be a receiver out of the backfield

Etc.

But hey, that'd be too difficult. Not enough time for the genius Gary Kubiak to install that sort of high-level "trickery" and make sure his Pro Bowl caliber QB, RBs, and OL could handle the duties.

No, what REALLY has been selling like hotcakes is to have only 1 RB, and then (hee hee hee!) motion that 1 RB out into a WR spot prior to the snap! OMG! The defense won't know what to do! :peek:
 

Hervoyel

BUENO!
No he's missing lanes...his vision is just terrible...

It's been better but then last year the blocking was better too. The lanes were bigger and maybe a few times he "guessed right". Tate is I think a pretty good back but he's not at his best here. Behind big hogs just straight up powering their way down the field he'd be a money in the bank. One of those guys who consistently pounds the rock for 4+ yards a tote all the way down the field.

Until he got hurt. Again. He runs like a monster but you're right, he doesn't have the vision to really create much and on top of that he doesn't look to have a durability that a true "thumper" really needs.
 

HOU-TEX

Ah, Football!
Just pure speculation on my part, but I don't think he wants to be here as a back up RB. He was drafted to be the starter and tore his ankle up in pre-season. Hopefully he doesn't blame the Texans for not waiting on him.
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
It's been better but then last year the blocking was better too. The lanes were bigger and maybe a few times he "guessed right". Tate is I think a pretty good back but he's not at his best here. Behind big hogs just straight up powering their way down the field he'd be a money in the bank. One of those guys who consistently pounds the rock for 4+ yards a tote all the way down the field.

Until he got hurt. Again. He runs like a monster but you're right, he doesn't have the vision to really create much and on top of that he doesn't look to have a durability that a true "thumper" really needs.
Yeah, i think on some level too his problem is that he hasn't figured out that he is that "thumper" back for us. Too many times i've seen him try to make and arian-esque cut & he doesn't come close & gets tackled for a 3 yd. gain when he should've just lowered his head and pushed the pile for another 1 yd or so.
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
Just pure speculation on my part, but I don't think he wants to be here as a back up RB. He was drafted to be the starter and tore his ankle up in pre-season. Hopefully he doesn't blame the Texans for not waiting on him.
well if that's his problem he's dumb...he's been injured 2 out of his 3 years in the league & hasn't shown any kind of durability to warrant being a feature guy anywhere.

The only guy in the league who has that kind of clout despite being injured all the time & teams not laugh at him is Mcfadden...and his act is wearing thin in Oak. No matter where he goes, he'll be a guy that's going to share carries..at least initially; so he may as well just stay here if the texans offer him something reasonable to come back.
 

GP

Go Texans!
Just pure speculation on my part, but I don't think he wants to be here as a back up RB. He was drafted to be the starter and tore his ankle up in pre-season. Hopefully he doesn't blame the Texans for not waiting on him.
Oh he will. All these athletes do when they leave their original team.

He'll be tweeting his life away the day he gets another contract and leaves Houston.

I imagine it will first go like this:

"To all my fans out there, thank you for your support."

then

"Don't know why the Texans didn't want me back."

Then who knows what comes next. Something probably more caustic toward the Texans.

It's the standard these days.
 

amazing80

Hall of Fame
This vision crap is ridiculous, he didnt get 1000 yards last season with lack of vision and he didnt suddenly lose his vision....He isn't getting into a rhythm and he could still be hurting...who knows, but his vision isn't the problem
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
This vision crap is ridiculous, he didnt get 1000 yards last season with lack of vision and he didnt suddenly lose his vision....He isn't getting into a rhythm and he could still be hurting...who knows, but his vision isn't the problem
1000 yds over 16 games is only 63 ypg, hardly earth-shattering. Just for comparison RG3 damn near had that in rushing this year.......as a rookie. The only reason he got 1000 in the 1st place last year was b/c Arian missed 2 games last year & sat out the last game against Tenn...
 

amazing80

Hall of Fame
1000 yds over 16 games is only 63 ypg, hardly earth-shattering. Just for comparison RG3 damn near had that in rushing this year.......as a rookie. The only reason he got 1000 in the 1st place last year was b/c Arian missed 2 games last year & sat out the last game against Tenn...
he started 2 games and came off the bench in the rest, if 2 1000 yard backs is "easy" then why dont more teams have that? because its incredible.....thats why...his vision is fine, but something is wrong....
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Just pure speculation on my part, but I don't think he wants to be here as a back up RB.
I don't think he doesn't want to be here.

I'm sure he wants to be a starter & would like to be a starter here just as soon as anywhere else. I'm sure he knows that he'd have weaker competition elsewhere & would like to be on one of those teams.

But he also knows that he hasn't been healthy enough to be a starter anywhere else.

When he is healthy, he gets plenty enough carries. He was 1b here last year, not 2nd string. If I were Ben Tate I'd be trying to find a way to stay healthy. We probably won't be able to re-sign him, unless something happens to Foster for any amount of money.

But we want a guy like Ben Tate, a guy that wants to be a starter, a guy who thinks he is a starter. I like Forsett, but he knows he isn't a starter in this league.

I also think Arian liked a healthy Tate. I think it made him play better having that competition.
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
he started 2 games and came off the bench in the rest, if 2 1000 yard backs is "easy" then why dont more teams have that? because its incredible.....thats why...his vision is fine, but something is wrong....
\

Ok, so technically he didn't start 3 games...but we're gonna act like Tate didn't get the lions share of the carries in the dolphins game? Arian went out in the 1st quarter dude.

Still, It's hardly incredible dude.

remember DVD (duckett, vick & dunn) a few years back? Gotta figure that if it were only 2 of those guys instead of 3, they easily get 1000 each. as it is they still damn near all had 1000 yds rushing each.

panthers 2008 - 2009

i'm sure there were others like the wildcat dolphins with ricky and ronnie brown.

In any event that's 3 teams that have done it in the last 1/2 decade. It's a matter of offensive style. All those teams were committed, damn near locked in to running the ball the majority of the time. If you're committed to the run like we are, it is easy. Most teams this day aren't.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Remember Eddie George?
he started 2 games and came off the bench in the rest, if 2 1000 yard backs is "easy" then why dont more teams have that? because its incredible.....thats why...his vision is fine, but something is wrong....
Another hint Javid Best.

Turf toe has taken down many a RB. Both Best and George, as has been a common theme of such injuries, suffered multiple recurrent setbacks. It's a very difficult injury to shake, especially within the same season in which it occurs. And, if the RB is even able to return to full form, it requires a very long rest to come back from, i.e., usually a full off season. Even so, an RB is usually going to experience some lingering chronic negative effects on his performance.
 

klockWork

Rookie
Nothing wrong with Tate. Considering he's coming in cold and having to adjust to on field game speed he still avg the same yards per carry as Foster.

There is a thread here entitled "What WTF happen to Foster?" Has anybody forgotten that? That's how inconsistent our run blocking has been. A good game against Cinci and another against the1st Colts game has made that thread go into hibernation. It'll only take one bad game from Foster to awaken that thread back to life.

You folks are unbelievable in your assessment of a players abilities. There are 2 thing Tate can do better than Foster ;exploding through arm tackle and not slipping on cuts. That's a great attributes to have and should not be ignored. Give this man 10 carries in a game and we'll truly see how much substance this thread has. But to judge a player when he's getting 2 attempt per game is grossly unfair.

If Foster gets injured in the week and Tate gets the start I would not lose sleep over that fact.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Nothing wrong with Tate. Considering he's coming in cold and having to adjust to on field game speed he still avg the same yards per carry as Foster.

There is a thread here entitled "What WTF happen to Foster?" Has anybody forgotten that? That's how inconsistent our run blocking has been. A good game against Cinci and another against the1st Colts game has made that thread go into hibernation. It'll only take one bad game from Foster to awaken that thread back to life.

You folks are unbelievable in your assessment of a players abilities. There are 2 thing Tate can do better than Foster ;exploding through arm tackle and not slipping on cuts. That's a great attributes to have and should not be ignored. Give this man 10 carries in a game and we'll truly see how much substance this thread has. But to judge a player when he's getting 2 attempt per game is grossly unfair.

If Foster gets injured in the week and Tate gets the start I would not lose sleep over that fact.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with Tate.

He's only been on the Injury Report with "toe (initial)," "toe," "foot," "hamstring (most common compensatory injury to a turf toe)," "hamstring," "hamstring," "hamstring," "hamstring," "hamstring," "foot/hamstring," "foot/hamstring," "hamstring," .......now back to "foot" all season long since the 5th game.

Just like George and Best, exemplary RBs, ever since their initial turf toe, they were continuously dealing with toe, foot and hamstring problems until they retired. I hope that is not the case with Tate. But this year his toe underlies his lack of performance and has affected his ability to remain on the field.
 

amazing80

Hall of Fame
Of course, there's nothing wrong with Tate.

He's only been on the Injury Report with "toe (initial)," "toe," "foot," "hamstring (most common compensatory injury to a turf toe)," "hamstring," "hamstring," "hamstring," "hamstring," "hamstring," "foot/hamstring," "foot/hamstring," "hamstring," .......now back to "foot" all season long since the 5th game.

Just like George and Best, exemplary RBs, ever since their initial turf toe, they were continuously dealing with toe, foot and hamstring problems until they retired. I hope that is not the case with Tate. But this year his toe underlies his lack of performance and has affected his ability to remain on the field.

Please do not use logic on this forum, it MUST be his vision and nothing you say will change my mind :gun:
 

klockWork

Rookie
Foster said it himself, "I feel better and stronger as a runner the more carries into a game." How do you think effective Foster or any RB would be with just 2 or 3 carries per game?

No one knew how good Foster would be until Kubiak name him starter late in the '09 season when our playoffs hope was gone and Slaton became garbage. It's almost blind luck that Foster became who he is now.
 

klockWork

Rookie
Foster stats before his promising first two start in '09 was a meager 15 carries for 51 yards in limited duty. Foster first two starts compare to Tate are nearly identical. And when you look at last year stats when he is getting at least 8 or more carries after Foster came back from injuries is when this team is the most dangerous.
 

Big Lou

Hall of Fame
Just kind of reminds me of a runaway bull, no vision what so ever.
Better question may be what happened to Forsett. I think he has done better this year than Tate.
Yeh, I really wanted to see Forsett come in for a change of pace. Not that Arian is a true power runner, but Forsett has the squirt underneath the pile ability, and the dude is so good he can be down and still score a touch down.
 
Top