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Ben Tate RB Auburn- 2nd round selection

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JB said:
I disagree, unless Foster shows really strong, I expect Ben to get most of the work early. I think they will be very cautious with Slaton. No neck surgery is minor, and I think they would prefer to use him at his best which is catching the ball out of the backfield.
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I could see it either way, really. If Slaton turns out to be done, yes. Tate will be 20-25 carries per game, easy.
 
Pocky said:
I don't know how you think anyone would take you seriously. You just got a thoughtless accusation debunked and followed through with another one. I'm willing to bet actual money that you never watched neither Toby Gearhart, nor Ben Tate, or for that matter any other RB/draft prospects played in an actual collegiate game.

You're coming off a person that just listen to whatever the draftniks say and let them form your mind on the prospects. And in this case, you let a draftnik sweet talk you into falling in love with Gearhart, to the point where it's Gearhart or bust. Now that the Texans past on your manlove Gearhart, you're trying to pin Tate with some false flaws. Not crying over spill milk? Who're you trying to kid?
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As someone who has watched Ben Tate his entire career, I'd say his analysis of Tate was spot-on.

Your opinion of Tate's ability to break tackles - 9/10 (seems to me)
His opinion of Tate's ability to break tackles - 6/10 (seems to me)
MOHO of Ben Tate's ability to break tackles - 7/10

Ben's got a big body & he'll certainly break some tackles & will have a deserved reputation as a balanced/power RB in the NFL. But pretending he's the second coming of Christian Okoye is absurd.
 
TheRealJoker said:
We need to use Slaton every game like we used him against the Bengals this past season.
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Exactly! He was dynomite on screens & flares. I think we will see alternating series, where Tate is in on 1st & 2nd and Slaton on 3rd and sometimes Slaton on 1st & 2nd and Tate on 3rd & short. If Slaton is healthy, we have a ton of versatility.
 
Meant to put this in my previous post.

Tate n' Slate will be a good combo out of the backfield. Especially if Slate can get a better grip on the ball.
 
I think Steve Slaton is done.

He couldn't get it together from day 1 last year, and then the injury bug hit him. So where does he go from here?

Last draft, we didn't even draft a RB at all. By the time the dust settled on the 2009 season, Arian Foster (an undrafted free agent) was the guy capping off the year for us.

1. Slaton was fumbling, hesitant in his running style once he got the ball, and then became too injured to finish.

2. Moats was fumbling, and had been banged up a bit.

3. Chris Brown was busy nailing his own coffin shut, as well.

4. Arian Foster, an UDFA, was toting the rock.

But I don't think Gary Kubiak is willing to tempt fate AGAIN. And that's why Ben Tate was wrapped up by the Texans in round 2 of the 2010 draft. That's quite a leap, for Kubiak to not even draft a RB in 2009 and to grab one in round 2 the very next draft.

I don't think Kubiak has given up on Slaton, but I think he knows he can't fully depend on Steve Slaton in 2010. And I have to wonder what this does to Steve's confidence which was already shaky throughout all of the 2009 season.

It's going to be a dog-eat-dog world for Texans running backs this summer.
 
GP said:
I think our CBs, our LBs, and our SS can mask the weakness of our FS. And that DL better step it up and contribute more than they have. To me, they just had a wake-up call. As in "Next year we just might start drafting YOUR replacements..."
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Help me out here, what weaknesses do we have at FS? I need someone to spell it out for me.

The only issue I know of is Eugene's health & age. He's not over the hill, but I know he is not the future, the only reason we have to draft a FS, IMHO, is if we don't believe Barber is the future. To me, that doesn't mean we need to draft a FS now.
 
thunderkyss said:
Help me out here, what weaknesses do we have at FS? I need someone to spell it out for me.

The only issue I know of is Eugene's health & age. He's not over the hill, but I know he is not the future, the only reason we have to draft a FS, IMHO, is if we don't believe Barber is the future. To me, that doesn't mean we need to draft a FS now.
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Uh...prior to the 2009 draft, the Texans were not exactly drafting or acquiring "quality" secondary players. In my opinion, at least. Lots of patches, but nothing new off the factory floor.

Glover and McCain represent a better direction taken.

Jackson represents a MUCH better direction taken.

Pollard's strength is not in coverage. It's in roaming the field and looking for someone to knock the piss out of. And for run support.

We need a true FS who is a ballhawk and has great coverage skills. Do we possess that guy on our roster? Not yet.

Having said that, I think our CBs, our SS, and our LBs can pool their efforts in 2010 and compensate a bit. Just my feeling.
 
Ben Tate will start. He is a willing blocker, can run after the catch & is a downhill runner with surprising speed/power.
 
Could be a solid pick. I'm glad we picked up the extra draft choice to fill one of our other needs at G, C, DT, FS, or backup QB ..... oh wait, who did they draft?
 
maddogmrb said:
Could be a solid pick. I'm glad we picked up the extra draft choice to fill one of our other needs at G, C, DT, FS, or backup QB ..... oh wait, who did they draft?
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I love how your analysis of some of our draft picks is "could be a solid pick." Thanks for that bit of info Mr. Insightful.

And I am not sure if you noticed but we are pretty full at guard and still drafted a guard. And we drafted a defensive tackle as well. So why are you acting like we didnt hit our needs?

And what is with you listing backup QB as a need? Do you even know who is on our roster? I dont think you do.
 
Super Mario said:
I love how your analysis of some of our draft picks is "could be a solid pick." Thanks for that bit of info Mr. Insightful.

And I am not sure if you noticed but we are pretty full at guard and still drafted a guard. And we drafted a defensive tackle as well. So why are you acting like we didnt hit our needs?

And what is with you listing backup QB as a need? Do you even know who is on our roster? I dont think you do.
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Okay, let's see which of our guards or centers was pushing the DL back on short yardage last year? Which of Meyer, Pitts, Brisell, or Studdard are considered anything close to top 25 at their positions? Oh, and the great free-agent guard we signed .... I know teams were lining up for his services and we pulled off a huge coup to steal him out from under them .... right? At DT EVERYBODY but Super Mario seems to know that we need a BIG RUN STUFFING DT and not another under-sized pass rushing DT specialist. Demeco Ryans is an excellent MLB, but it would be really good to see him tackling at or behind the LOS instead of 5-7 yards downfield because his DT's can't come close to controlling the LOS.

Backup QB, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Do YOU know that we have Dan Orlovsky (sp?) and somebody named Booty as backups??? I mean they both were so solid as backup QB's last year, weren't they? If Schaub goes down we all know that these guys will be able to step up and move the team, right .... right .... WRONG!
 
I must say, Ben Tate has been my guy for quite some time now and I'm pumped we traded back away from Gerhart and traded back up in front of Seattle to get him. Awesome maneuvering in the 2nd by our staff, IMO. I can't wait to see this dude in our system. He's big, tough, durable and, oh yeah, he can take it to the house any given play.
 
HOU-TEX said:
I must say, Ben Tate has been my guy for quite some time now and I'm pumped we traded back away from Gerhart and traded back up in front of Seattle to get him. Awesome maneuvering in the 2nd by our staff, IMO. I can't wait to see this dude in our system. He's big, tough, durable and, oh yeah, he can take it to the house any given play.
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Well you and I will be cheering for him at least. I like Mathews and after him wanted Tate. I despised the idea of Dwyer and disliked Gerhart (not as people but as players). Now we'll see but I like this better than having Dwyer and watching Tate..
 
maddogmrb said:
Backup QB, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Do YOU know that we have Dan Orlovsky (sp?) and somebody named Booty as backups??? I mean they both were so solid as backup QB's last year, weren't they? If Schaub goes down we all know that these guys will be able to step up and move the team, right .... right .... WRONG!
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You are right. I bet we could trade a couple of 7th rounders next year for Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers. Those would be some good backups huh?

Its John David Booty from USC. They are BACKUPS for a reason. And trust me, the Texans will bring in someone to help at QB like they did with Grossman.
 
infantrycak said:
Well you and I will be cheering for him at least. I like Mathews and after him wanted Tate. I despised the idea of Dwyer and disliked Gerhart (not as people but as players). Now we'll see but I like this better than having Dwyer and watching Tate..
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Me too, and it appears the entire NFL felt the same way about Dwyer. Gerhart's good, but I think he's going to take a beating with the way he runs. Tate lead the SEC, arguably the best defensive conference in the NCAA, in rushing this past season.
 
HOU-TEX said:
Me too, and it appears the entire NFL felt the same way about Dwyer. Gerhart's good, but I think he's going to take a beating with the way he runs. Tate lead the SEC, arguably the best defensive conference in the NCAA, in rushing this past season.
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I liked Tate , in fact I dabbled in a draft scenario before the combine and had him picked in the 3rd or 4th . Why ... size speed ratio plus he was a productive SEC back .

Earl Mitchell is faster for 10 yards than Dwyer ... nuff said .
 
maddogmrb said:
Okay, let's see which of our guards or centers was pushing the DL back on short yardage last year? Which of Meyer, Pitts, Brisell, or Studdard are considered anything close to top 25 at their positions? Oh, and the great free-agent guard we signed .... I know teams were lining up for his services and we pulled off a huge coup to steal him out from under them .... right? At DT EVERYBODY but Super Mario seems to know that we need a BIG RUN STUFFING DT and not another under-sized pass rushing DT specialist. Demeco Ryans is an excellent MLB, but it would be really good to see him tackling at or behind the LOS instead of 5-7 yards downfield because his DT's can't come close to controlling the LOS.

Backup QB, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Do YOU know that we have Dan Orlovsky (sp?) and somebody named Booty as backups??? I mean they both were so solid as backup QB's last year, weren't they? If Schaub goes down we all know that these guys will be able to step up and move the team, right .... right .... WRONG!
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So instead of complaining why don't you give us a list of things you would have done if you were GM? You make it sound like its possible to fix all of our needs in one off-season.
 
TexCanada said:
So instead of complaining why don't you give us a list of things you would have done if you were GM? You make it sound like its possible to fix all of our needs in one off-season.
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Or better yet , where was the dude when we did all these mock drafts ? A guy with this kinda superior knowledge would have come in handy . Heck ... next year he can pick for the Texans .
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Or better yet , where was the dude when we did all these mock drafts ? A guy with this kinda superior knowledge would have come in handy . Heck ... next year he can pick for the Texans .
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I wouldn't mind that actually, it seems like he knows the secret formula for getting 10 picks in each round. Bring on the Superbowl!
 
TexCanada said:
So instead of complaining why don't you give us a list of things you would have done if you were GM? You make it sound like its possible to fix all of our needs in one off-season.
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Honoring Earl 34 said:
Or better yet , where was the dude when we did all these mock drafts ? A guy with this kinda superior knowledge would have come in handy . Heck ... next year he can pick for the Texans .
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He doesnt do that kinda stuff. He is a MMQB.
 
maddogmrb said:
Okay, let's see which of our guards or centers was pushing the DL back on short yardage last year? Which of Meyer, Pitts, Brisell, or Studdard are considered anything close to top 25 at their positions? Oh, and the great free-agent guard we signed .... I know teams were lining up for his services and we pulled off a huge coup to steal him out from under them .... right? At DT EVERYBODY but Super Mario seems to know that we need a BIG RUN STUFFING DT and not another under-sized pass rushing DT specialist. Demeco Ryans is an excellent MLB, but it would be really good to see him tackling at or behind the LOS instead of 5-7 yards downfield because his DT's can't come close to controlling the LOS.

Backup QB, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Do YOU know that we have Dan Orlovsky (sp?) and somebody named Booty as backups??? I mean they both were so solid as backup QB's last year, weren't they? If Schaub goes down we all know that these guys will be able to step up and move the team, right .... right .... WRONG!
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Everyone but SuperMArio and the guys who call the shots on Defense. They don't put a fat **** as a need. Our run d last year was actually pretty good, though they got off to a bad start. I'm gonna let them do it their way, and not worry about the fat guy any more.
 
HOU-TEX said:
I must say, Ben Tate has been my guy for quite some time now and I'm pumped we traded back away from Gerhart and traded back up in front of Seattle to get him. Awesome maneuvering in the 2nd by our staff, IMO. I can't wait to see this dude in our system. He's big, tough, durable and, oh yeah, he can take it to the house any given play.
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For the 1st time in franchise history the Texans have a RB that can run strong between the tackles (DDW) and take it to the house. (Slaton) Wrapped up in one RB. (Tate) Plus Tate can pass pro and catch the ball out of the backfield.

I'm feeling very good about the selection of Tate. I wish they could've gotten him some more help on the OL. Maybe S.Smith is a player.
 
JB said:
Yep! Shocking News! Couldn't be done they said. Kubiak will never spend a high draft pick on a RB they said. Wtf?
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So true. Sounds like Mathews was their guy at #20... not from McClain's mouth but from Frank Bush's:
(on if they were set on a defensive player as the time got close) "We were set on defense. Of course you know there's two sides to the board as you look at the draft board and the offense had their guys that they really wanted and we had the guys that we wanted and as the things start to shake out, you know some things happened that we didn't forsee and then we had an opportunity to basically go back in and discuss the defensive players and this was a guy that we really wanted. He was a guy that we had really high on our draft board as far as defense is concerned and so that gave us an opportunity to go get him. We had a need in a lot of different positions as you guys understand and we were looking at running back but we also had a need at corner. We felt like this was a player that we had to go get."
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This screams runningback at #20: CJ SPiller or Ryan Mathews. Probably Mathews but in either case.... RUNNINGBACK IN THE 1ST!

Also it has been rumored that Kubiak was trying to trade up to #26 in the 1st to get Deangelo Williams during 2006 but Buffalo offered a better package. Havn't found a quote from Kubiak saying this.

Denver selected Clinton Portis in the 2nd and now the Texans have selected Ben Tate in the 2nd with Kubiak being involved.
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Or better yet , where was the dude when we did all these mock drafts ? A guy with this kinda superior knowledge would have come in handy . Heck ... next year he can pick for the Texans .
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With his vast knowledge the Texans will have the greatest mock draft in their history. Probably the greatest mock draft in NFL history. LOL
 
Alright guys cut him some slack. Everyone wants all our needs addressed but there's only so much you could do during the draft. Let's get back to how badass Tate is going to be as a Texan!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPUd0fHbTIw

I can see us running the 1st play with him, that was cool.

My favorite is the 3rd play (starts at 21 second mark). Not overly spectacular, but a great solid run with great cuts... these are the type of runs I hope to see from Slate & Tate next season. GREAT replay of it starts at 32 sec mark.
 
steelbtexan said:
With his vast knowledge the Texans will have the greatest mock draft in their history. Probably the greatest mock draft in NFL history. LOL
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Hes the Jack Black of mock drafting, he actually did create the greatest mock draft of all time but it was during a dream and he forgot it. All this whining is his tribute.
 
New_Texans said:
Its not a gigantic hole, Wilson--when healthy--is very serviceable. I wanted Johnson from Utah but oh well we didn't get him, we did get a CB in the first that looks good and additional defensive depth. Also, what if none of the FS available aren't any better than the current people there. Barber is going into his 3rd season, he should have his feet under him and he should be able to make more plays now. Don't get too upset about it...then again, i am an optimist.
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Wilson-journeyman, older guy, decent and "serviceable" at best oh and returning from injury. Sweeeeeet starter there. Depth? Barber? If he's so good why can't he unseat Wilson? Oh, because he's not that good maybe?

At least you didn't mention Busing.

Maddict5 said:
plus i have high hopes for troy nolan
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Really? What is it that he PLAYS this year? Come on....
 
Ole Miss Texan said:
Alright guys cut him some slack. Everyone wants all our needs addressed but there's only so much you could do during the draft. Let's get back to how badass Tate is going to be as a Texan!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPUd0fHbTIw

I can see us running the 1st play with him, that was cool.

My favorite is the 3rd play (starts at 21 second mark). Not overly spectacular, but a great solid run with great cuts... these are the type of runs I hope to see from Slate & Tate next season. GREAT replay of it starts at 32 sec mark.
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Oh geez Wally .... we were just giving him the business . Besides even doing a mock , you calculate need , fit , and talent . The better you are , the more you can zero in on a position . Of course the flip side is this is how good teams end up with good players who fall and they have the luxury of picking whoever .

I think Tate was the best fit at the best value . In other words Jackson and Tate over Matthews and another CB who was picked after Tate .
 
TimeKiller said:
Wilson-journeyman, older guy, decent and "serviceable" at best oh and returning from injury. Sweeeeeet starter there. Depth? Barber? If he's so good why can't he unseat Wilson? Oh, because he's not that good maybe?
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Wilson is a good starter.

Dominique Barber is younger and is learning the ropes from Wilson. Although he has looked bad over the years, Barber looked much better at the end of last season when he came in for Wilson.

And, yes, Troy Nolan could be good depth at FS. The coaching staff seem to like him a lot.

And, this coaching staff has done pretty well with 7th rounders (Anderson, Diles.)

AND, the season hasn't started, yet. There's no guarantee that this is the group we'll be starting the season with.
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Oh geez Wally .... we were just giving him the business . Besides even doing a mock , you calculate need , fit , and talent . The better you are , the more you can zero in on a position . Of course the flip side is this is how good teams end up with good players who fall and they have the luxury of picking whoever .

I think Tate was the best fit at the best value . In other words Jackson and Tate over Matthews and another CB who was picked after Tate .
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Fully on board! I think, maybe a better term would be hope, we're like a young Patriots team in the way they draft. They draft for players that fit their scheme, that as a whole, will improve the team. Their players are asked to to perform their role and if they do that correctly, the team will see success. Their drafts are usually fairly ho-hum, in my opinion, but the do well. I see the Texans pretty similar - a lot of the guys they pick or the way they've been picking makes us scratch our head. But looking back the who and the why, it actually makes a lot of sense. With this draft I see us filling needs early, and then going after the best players available during the 3rd day. I love that approach. Especially when the needs and best players on your board align as in the case with Jackson and Tate!
 
Ole Miss Texan said:
Fully on board! I think, maybe a better term would be hope, we're like a young Patriots team in the way they draft. They draft for players that fit their scheme, that as a whole, will improve the team. Their players are asked to to perform their role and if they do that correctly, the team will see success. Their drafts are usually fairly ho-hum, in my opinion, but the do well. I see the Texans pretty similar - a lot of the guys they pick or the way they've been picking makes us scratch our head. But looking back the who and the why, it actually makes a lot of sense. With this draft I see us filling needs early, and then going after the best players available during the 3rd day. I love that approach. Especially when the needs and best players on your board align as in the case with Jackson and Tate!
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Have you gone back and seen where the guys you picked were drafted ? I think it's interesting who got what and the method to their madness .
 
The Pencil Neck said:
Wilson is a good starter.

Dominique Barber is younger and is learning the ropes from Wilson. Although he has looked bad over the years, Barber looked much better at the end of last season when he came in for Wilson.
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Something about being in his 3rd year and finally rounding into an okay safety doesn't inspire much confidence from me to Barber. It's not like he's rounding into a contributing force.

Wilson is a good starter....k...so who is the good finisher? budum pshhh....
And, yes, Troy Nolan could be good depth at FS. The coaching staff seem to like him a lot.
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Opinion with no base. Not enough of a reason to flat out ignore a team weakness.
And, this coaching staff has done pretty well with 7th rounders (Anderson, Diles.)
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K but that has almost no relevance to whether or not Nolan can contribute other than they were picked in the same round.
AND, the season hasn't started, yet. There's no guarantee that this is the group we'll be starting the season with.
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Um...it's safety. So it's pretty well garaunteed unless we do the pick-up-a-safety-a-few-games-into-the-season thing again...
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Have you gone back and seen where the guys you picked were drafted ? I think it's interesting who got what and the method to their madness .
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I'll have to do that... but for some reason Oakland decided to actually draft sensibly this year. They usually took my late round guys like Michael Mitchell pretty early and really help my batting average!
 
badboy said:
What do you based this on? Gerhart ran for almost 1900 yards for a 5.5 average last season. Voice your thoughts but try to support them.
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Gerheart played in a no-defense Pac-10 conference for a team that HAD nobody else to give the rock to. It's like sandlot ball - get it to Bennie the Jet!

Tate played in a pro-style SEC conference. And oh, early on he played behind college stud Kenny Irons and didn't get the ball much.

There's no question that they're both good; but we need a one-cut starter that can go NOW. Gerheart is a backup and ideal for what Minnesota needed. Ben Tate is the guy that WE needed to complement Slaton and/or Foster. Tate is like an offensive version of Bernard Pollard - he likes contact.

He also had the best quote of the draft, "If I can't make them miss, I'll make them pay". Ain't no "Pay Me Rick" in that kid.
 
badboy said:
What do you based this on? Gerhart ran for almost 1900 yards for a 5.5 average last season. Voice your thoughts but try to support them.
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On 610 sports they stated Gerhart had 80 more carries than Tate . Tate averaged 5.2 yds a carry ( in the SEC ) so multiply 80 x 5.2 and you get 416 . Add that to Tates numbers and what ya get .
 
TimeKiller said:
Something about being in his 3rd year and finally rounding into an okay safety doesn't inspire much confidence from me to Barber. It's not like he's rounding into a contributing force.
...
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I think part of the problem with Barber, and every other safety we've had here, is that we've been asking/looking for a hybrid SS/FS, and picking in the bottom rounds, we just couldn't find that guy.

With Pollard, & Frank Bush, we abandoned that philosophy, and allowed Pollard to Play SS, & Eugene to play FS. Barber didn't look bad at all since then.

He didn't look like the play-maker we all want, no one is saying different. Same with Eugene, not a play-maker, but will get the job done.
 
thunderkyss said:
I think part of the problem with Barber, and every other safety we've had here, is that we've been asking/looking for a hybrid SS/FS, and picking in the bottom rounds, we just couldn't find that guy.

With Pollard, & Frank Bush, we abandoned that philosophy, and allowed Pollard to Play SS, & Eugene to play FS. Barber didn't look bad at all since then.

He didn't look like the play-maker we all want, no one is saying different. Same with Eugene, not a play-maker, but will get the job done.
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Eugene will force an occasional fumble and will come up with an occasional interception... just he is likely to fumble the interception...lol
 
I sent him a message on Twitter and he responded. I'm loving his attitude towards the fans and the game.


Me: @BenTateRB Loving the background. I'll be wearing that jersey to the Colts game on opening day, so you better put up at least 200 yds.

Ben Tate: @kbpell lol i dont care if i have 200 or 10 as long as we get that W
 
When is he suppose to arrive? Do most rookies just wait until OTAs to come into town (besides first round choices and those close by)?
 
76Texan said:
Just to clarify things; Tate did not play in a pro-style offense.
He will have to adjust to the I-formation.
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That's true... but..

Didn't Tate play in a different offense every year he was in college? I recall him saying that the reason he went to Auburn was because they were a ZBS team and he thought he fit that style well. Then his sophomore year, they switched OCs and changed offensive systems.

In his highlights, he looks like he spent some time in some option/wildcat sort of thing. (I don't keep up with all the college offenses.)
 
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