Irish In The NFL: The Amazing, Underrated Golden Tate
By J.P. Scott
Former Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate is one of the more consistent-yet-underappreciated wideouts in the game.
I’m in a fairly competitive dynasty fantasy football league. We’ve been going at it as a group for about eight years. Every year, without fail, someone trades away their rights to Golden Tate. And every year, they regret it.
Tate was a stud during his time in South Bend. There was a lot of potential in Seattle for him to be a perennial star with the Seahawks, but it just never worked out.
In Detroit, however, it’s been a completely different story.
Golden Tate has quietly emerged as one of the most consistent and dependable receivers in the NFL while playing for the Lions. He has led the team in receptions during all four seasons in Detroit. He spent two of those seasons playing opposite of Calvin Johnson and caught more passes than “Megatron” despite receiving less targets.
Tate has been a key cog in what has developed into one of the elite passing attacks in the National Football League. He is Matthew Stafford’s favorite receiver, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change in 2018.
While digging through the metrics of Tate and some other NFL receivers lately, I came across one stat that stunned me. Over the last four NFL seasons, only two wide receivers caught 90 or more passes each year. One of those players was Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers — a player often mentioned in the conversation of “Best receiver in the NFL.”
The other player was Golden Tate.
Tate will be a free agent at the end of 2018. With Antonio Brown locked up through 2021, Tate — the same age as Brown — could have plenty of leverage when it comes to securing one more big NFL contract during the latter stages of his career. It all depends on whether or not he can post another 90-catch, 1,000 yard season. If he does, it’ll likely secure the biggest payday of his NFL career.
That’s something for you fantasy football players to remember this season. You might want to avoid making the mistake that my fellow dynasty league owners made in the past by trading him — especially in a PPR (points per reception) league.
Next: What Would An All-Notre Dame NFL Team Look Like?
For you non-fantasy players who just like following Irish in the NFL, 2018 could be one of the more exciting seasons as a pure spectator to watch the great Golden Tate so far in his illustrious career.