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Golden Tate set career-highs in receptions (64) and receiving yards (898) last season with the Seattle Seahawks, and he’ll now move to a more pass-happy offense after signing with the Detroit Lions as a free agent in March. Purely having more opportunities is good news for Tate’s fantasy value this year, and the first 1,000-yard season of his career seems to be easily within reach.
Positives
As previously alluded to, the Seahawks had the second-fewest pass attempts in the league last year (420; 26.3 per game), while the Lions threw the ball the fifth-most times in the league (634; 39.6 per game). A more balanced offense may be coming under new offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, but Detroit will still be throwing the ball plenty this year.
Tate has said he anticipates “moving around a lot more” with the Lions after strictly working on the outside in Seattle. That should help create mismatches and opportunities to use his skills after the catch (50 missed tackles forced over the past three seasons, per Pro Football Focus).
According to Pro Football Focus Tate has dropped just five of 149 catchable targets over the last three seasons, which gives him the lowest drop rate of any wide receiver over that time.
Negatives
Tate had fewer targets in the red zone last year (eight) than such “elite” fantasy wide receivers as Ace Sanders, Austin Pettis and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Even with Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford likely to throw the ball in that area of the field a lot more than Russell Wilson did, Tate does not look likely to be a prolific touchdown scorer.
The Lions have a lot of capable pass catchers, with Calvin Johnson at the top of the pecking order with their top two running backs (Reggie Bush and Joique Bell) and top two tight ends (Brandon Pettigrew, Eric Ebron) in the mix for targets as well. There may be a lot of games where Tate takes a backseat, even as the clear-cut No. 2 wide receiver.
Final Verdict
Tate has excellent upside potential in all league formats with his move to the Motor City, but he will not become an automatic every week fantasy starter this year. 80-85 receptions for 1,100 yards with a handful of touchdowns is a realistic projection for Tate this year, which makes him a low-end WR2 or high-end WR3 in all scoring formats.
Bye Week: Week 9
Projected Round: Eighth Round
Auction Value: $4 (ESPN.com)
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
