Could Auden Tate Actually Start for the Bengals This Year?
Bengals’ 7th round pick Auden Tate has the chance to be a starter after performing well throughout training camp and the preseason.
Auden Tate was selected 253rd by the Bengals in this years’ draft out of Florida State. He wasn’t a prolific college receiver, as his numbers in college did not particularly stand out. The Bengals likely selected him due to his size, physicality, and ability to high point the football
Before camp, Tate was on the outside looking in to make the roster with 7 receivers that were previously on the team. Tate has some obvious flaws – isn’t the fastest receiver and he can be a little sloppy in and out of his routes. Therefore, he was going to have to impress the coaches to have a chance at making the team. Marvin Lewis has already commented on the play of Tate, though, and seems to be a fan of his.
Tate is one of the more talked about Bengals throughout training camp, and rightfully so. He has turned a lot of eyes with some of his highlight catches in camp. Tate had a brief scare with a head injury on August 1st, but returned to practice that next week.
In the first game of the preseaon, Tate made a stunning game-winning touchdown catch from Jeff Driskel in the Bengals 30-27 win over the Bears. Tate made two other superb catches on this same drive, but both of them were called back from penalties (one was a offensive pass interference on Tate).
We’ll hope to find out more on rookie wideout Auden Tate and his injury (@lil_t8te) but the amount of photos like this piling up in our system is crazy. #Wut https://t.co/cJsFGvekde pic.twitter.com/HM5XfngYuD
— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) August 1, 2018
Tate received first team reps the next day of camp. This is a good sign for him to make the 53 man roster. Tate’s likelihood to make the roster were improved with the release of veteran wideout Brandon Lafell on August 2nd. Cody Core is the last receiver on the roster Tate will have to beat out, according to the release of the first depth chart. Core was drafted in the 6th round of the 2016 NFL Draft and has played mainly special teams in his career.
Next. AJ Green vs. WJ3. dark
Auden Tate is probably not going to be starter Week 1, but with his performance in the first preseason game and from the start of camp. It looks like Tate could make a real impact for this team for the upcoming season.