Butch Davis' comments on video
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DeaconMoss
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Tate
GENERAL REPORT: GRADE: 6.6
Body Structure: Tate has a well developed frame with good quickness and balance. He has the arm length, upper body strength and solid muscle development to defeat the press and a tight midsection and hips. He has tapered thighs and calves, with some room left on his frame for additional growth.
Athletic Ability: Tate shows good quickness and a burst of speed in his play. He is a quick-handed receiver with good body control, change of direction agility and explosion in his run after the catch. He displays very good athletic ability on the field, especially on special teams. An excellent athlete, he has lacks blazing speed, but accelerates nicely with his compact stride, which allows him to generate burst on the move, evident by his success returning kicks for touchdowns. He shows very good balance, hip snap and torso flexibility. GRADE: 7.1
Football Sense: Tate has good learning ability, but still needs some reps to grasp the techniques of playing as a receiver. He adjusts on the run and is developing a good feel for all patterns, but will still run into spot and needs to refine his cuts better. He plays with much better awareness as a returner, following his blocks well. GRADE: 6.1
Character: Tate is very coachable and shows the work ethic that can make teams feel confident that they will get 100 percent effort out of him in whatever job they ask him to perform. GRADE: 6.8
Competitiveness: Tate is a tough competitor who endured a lot of hits in his time as a returner, but outside of his torn knee ligaments he has been fairly durable during his career. He has the playmaking ability that makes opponents account for him any time he is on the field. He flashes aggression as a runner and is very consistent in his approach on the field. GRADE: 6.5
Work Habits: Tate has developed good discipline as he gained maturity. He does whatever the staff asks and then does some extra. He is really delving into all aspects of becoming a better receiver and will constantly look for someone to throw the ball to him. The injury has set back his progress, but doctors say his work ethic is the reason he is well ahead of schedule returning from his knee surgery. If he can perform well during UNC's Pro Day, his draft stock is sure to elevate. GRADE: 7.0
ATHLETIC REPORT: GRADE: 6.43
Release: With his long, lean build, Tate shows good quickness, strength and hand usage to get off the snap and into his patterns. He might lack blazing speed, but compensates with good hip snap, balance and foot work in his route (still needs to execute crisper breaks, though). He has a smooth and fluid release off the line of scrimmage and is able to beat press coverage. He has the power to push through the jam with no hold-ups. He also shows the ability to be elusive at the line and consistently escapes to get into his routes. GRADE: 6.4
Acceleration: Tate has displayed very good vertical acceleration on deep routes. He has enough body control to get open and adjust quickly to the short throws and uncover. He does not have great timed speed, but does show the extra gear needed to get to the ball and run away from the slower defenders. He gets a good push working upfield, and while he does rely more on his athletic ability he is working on running more precise routes. The thing you see on film is his ability to torque his body to get under the pass and adjust to secure over his outside shoulder. GRADE: 6.3
Quickness: Tate has displayed adequate speed, good quickness and balance off the ball and good movement after the start with sudden moves. He gains advantage by building his acceleration to get behind the defender, but would be more explosive out of his cuts if he did a better job of sinking his weight to come out of breaks with better angle. He is not going to shock an opponent and simply fly past his man at the line of scrimmage, but will fool the opponent with his developing head and shoulder fakes (has good body mechanics). GRADE: 6.0
Route Running: For Tate, this is still a work in progress, as he tries to compensate for a lack of experience with his athleticism. He runs adequate routes, showing inconsistent ability to sink his hips, as he is prone to getting upright in his stance, which affects his initial explosiveness. He needs to generate sharper cuts on intermediate routes and run with little gather in and out of his breaks, but is showing improvement. He has the ability to use his frame when shielding defenders and is becoming a nice threat with his aggressive running style, as he has the balance to take the quick slants and turn up field without breaking stride. GRADE: 5.0
Separation Ability: Tate has a decent short-area burst to gain separation after pulling in the slants or screens. He is starting to develop the eyes needed to locate the soft spots in the zone. He sees the ball in flight and shows the body flexibility and vision to look the ball in. He is able to generate better acceleration working in the short-to-intermediate areas. While he has the ability to separate from defenders with his burst, he seems quicker into his cuts rather than out. He needs to do a better job with his hand placement, as his arms drop some just before his break point, but that hitch is easily correctable. GRADE: 6.3
Ball Concentration: Tate shows consistency catching the ball on short and long routes. Even though he's not "track fast," he has the ability to work and get open vs. man coverage, and when changing coverages he knows the situation well. He is patient following blockers on returns and keeps his eyes on the pocket to work back when the pocket is pressured. There seems to be no hesitation when working over the middle and he will extend for the ball in a crowd. GRADE: 6.4
Ball Adjustment: Tate has great torso flexibility. He can adjust to off-target throws or settling down in the zone. He extends and plucks the pass at the high point with good effectiveness. He has shown flashes of being able to adjust to high and low balls well, displaying that superb leaping ability that made him one of the top returners in the country before his knee injury. He has to do a better job of controlling his body to catch, as he only has adequate drift. GRADE: 6.5
Leaping Ability: Tate has shown good leaping ability for short and long balls, timing his leaps to get to the ball at its high point. He has no problems contorting his body to get to the low throws and shows no hesitation going vertical or diving for the ball. GRADE: 6.5
Hands: Tate displays above average hands. He is not really a body catcher, but will use his frame at times to absorb the ball (leads to a few drops of easy throws). He has the ability to extend with his hands, but will still trap the ball some. On returns, he shows very good hand/eye coordination with placement. He likes to compete for jump balls, especially when he knows he will have to attack it with defenders draped all over him. He has the scoop and reach ability to make the shoestring grab and has only fumbled once on 188 returns, proving he has valid ball security skills. GRADE: 8.0
Run After the Catch: Tate's leg drive allows him to get a good push off the line, but he needs to stay low in his pads to generate enough explosiveness. As he has proven on punt and kickoff returns, he can be dangerous running upfield, using his very good vision while also showing patience waiting for blocks to develop. He will sometimes generate explosion after the catch, but this could be even better if he tries to sink his pads better rather than running too upright. With his leg strength, he has little difficulty breaking tackles and is starting to develop good hip wiggle and head and shoulder fakes to con the defender and sell the route. GRADE: 7.2
Blocking Ability: Tate's experience on special teams came in handy when generating blocking skills as a receiver. He is aggressive stalking second-level defenders and works hard to impact the opponent along the edge to spring the ballcarrier for positive yardage. He shows no reluctance to face up, and with added bulk he could handle the physicality of blocking at the line in the NFL. When supporting the run, he positions and pesters with good effort and execution. GRADE: 6.1
Special Teams: If his knee fully recovers, Tate has the ability to rank with the elite combo kick returners in the league. He shows patience, vision and aggressive running style with the power to break tackles on the move. With six touchdowns to his credit and the NCAA combined kick yardage record (3,523), he brings great added value to his resume. GRADE: 8.7
GENERAL REPORT: GRADE: 6.6
Body Structure: Tate has a well developed frame with good quickness and balance. He has the arm length, upper body strength and solid muscle development to defeat the press and a tight midsection and hips. He has tapered thighs and calves, with some room left on his frame for additional growth.
Athletic Ability: Tate shows good quickness and a burst of speed in his play. He is a quick-handed receiver with good body control, change of direction agility and explosion in his run after the catch. He displays very good athletic ability on the field, especially on special teams. An excellent athlete, he has lacks blazing speed, but accelerates nicely with his compact stride, which allows him to generate burst on the move, evident by his success returning kicks for touchdowns. He shows very good balance, hip snap and torso flexibility. GRADE: 7.1
Football Sense: Tate has good learning ability, but still needs some reps to grasp the techniques of playing as a receiver. He adjusts on the run and is developing a good feel for all patterns, but will still run into spot and needs to refine his cuts better. He plays with much better awareness as a returner, following his blocks well. GRADE: 6.1
Character: Tate is very coachable and shows the work ethic that can make teams feel confident that they will get 100 percent effort out of him in whatever job they ask him to perform. GRADE: 6.8
Competitiveness: Tate is a tough competitor who endured a lot of hits in his time as a returner, but outside of his torn knee ligaments he has been fairly durable during his career. He has the playmaking ability that makes opponents account for him any time he is on the field. He flashes aggression as a runner and is very consistent in his approach on the field. GRADE: 6.5
Work Habits: Tate has developed good discipline as he gained maturity. He does whatever the staff asks and then does some extra. He is really delving into all aspects of becoming a better receiver and will constantly look for someone to throw the ball to him. The injury has set back his progress, but doctors say his work ethic is the reason he is well ahead of schedule returning from his knee surgery. If he can perform well during UNC's Pro Day, his draft stock is sure to elevate. GRADE: 7.0
ATHLETIC REPORT: GRADE: 6.43
Release: With his long, lean build, Tate shows good quickness, strength and hand usage to get off the snap and into his patterns. He might lack blazing speed, but compensates with good hip snap, balance and foot work in his route (still needs to execute crisper breaks, though). He has a smooth and fluid release off the line of scrimmage and is able to beat press coverage. He has the power to push through the jam with no hold-ups. He also shows the ability to be elusive at the line and consistently escapes to get into his routes. GRADE: 6.4
Acceleration: Tate has displayed very good vertical acceleration on deep routes. He has enough body control to get open and adjust quickly to the short throws and uncover. He does not have great timed speed, but does show the extra gear needed to get to the ball and run away from the slower defenders. He gets a good push working upfield, and while he does rely more on his athletic ability he is working on running more precise routes. The thing you see on film is his ability to torque his body to get under the pass and adjust to secure over his outside shoulder. GRADE: 6.3
Quickness: Tate has displayed adequate speed, good quickness and balance off the ball and good movement after the start with sudden moves. He gains advantage by building his acceleration to get behind the defender, but would be more explosive out of his cuts if he did a better job of sinking his weight to come out of breaks with better angle. He is not going to shock an opponent and simply fly past his man at the line of scrimmage, but will fool the opponent with his developing head and shoulder fakes (has good body mechanics). GRADE: 6.0
Route Running: For Tate, this is still a work in progress, as he tries to compensate for a lack of experience with his athleticism. He runs adequate routes, showing inconsistent ability to sink his hips, as he is prone to getting upright in his stance, which affects his initial explosiveness. He needs to generate sharper cuts on intermediate routes and run with little gather in and out of his breaks, but is showing improvement. He has the ability to use his frame when shielding defenders and is becoming a nice threat with his aggressive running style, as he has the balance to take the quick slants and turn up field without breaking stride. GRADE: 5.0
Separation Ability: Tate has a decent short-area burst to gain separation after pulling in the slants or screens. He is starting to develop the eyes needed to locate the soft spots in the zone. He sees the ball in flight and shows the body flexibility and vision to look the ball in. He is able to generate better acceleration working in the short-to-intermediate areas. While he has the ability to separate from defenders with his burst, he seems quicker into his cuts rather than out. He needs to do a better job with his hand placement, as his arms drop some just before his break point, but that hitch is easily correctable. GRADE: 6.3
Ball Concentration: Tate shows consistency catching the ball on short and long routes. Even though he's not "track fast," he has the ability to work and get open vs. man coverage, and when changing coverages he knows the situation well. He is patient following blockers on returns and keeps his eyes on the pocket to work back when the pocket is pressured. There seems to be no hesitation when working over the middle and he will extend for the ball in a crowd. GRADE: 6.4
Ball Adjustment: Tate has great torso flexibility. He can adjust to off-target throws or settling down in the zone. He extends and plucks the pass at the high point with good effectiveness. He has shown flashes of being able to adjust to high and low balls well, displaying that superb leaping ability that made him one of the top returners in the country before his knee injury. He has to do a better job of controlling his body to catch, as he only has adequate drift. GRADE: 6.5
Leaping Ability: Tate has shown good leaping ability for short and long balls, timing his leaps to get to the ball at its high point. He has no problems contorting his body to get to the low throws and shows no hesitation going vertical or diving for the ball. GRADE: 6.5
Hands: Tate displays above average hands. He is not really a body catcher, but will use his frame at times to absorb the ball (leads to a few drops of easy throws). He has the ability to extend with his hands, but will still trap the ball some. On returns, he shows very good hand/eye coordination with placement. He likes to compete for jump balls, especially when he knows he will have to attack it with defenders draped all over him. He has the scoop and reach ability to make the shoestring grab and has only fumbled once on 188 returns, proving he has valid ball security skills. GRADE: 8.0
Run After the Catch: Tate's leg drive allows him to get a good push off the line, but he needs to stay low in his pads to generate enough explosiveness. As he has proven on punt and kickoff returns, he can be dangerous running upfield, using his very good vision while also showing patience waiting for blocks to develop. He will sometimes generate explosion after the catch, but this could be even better if he tries to sink his pads better rather than running too upright. With his leg strength, he has little difficulty breaking tackles and is starting to develop good hip wiggle and head and shoulder fakes to con the defender and sell the route. GRADE: 7.2
Blocking Ability: Tate's experience on special teams came in handy when generating blocking skills as a receiver. He is aggressive stalking second-level defenders and works hard to impact the opponent along the edge to spring the ballcarrier for positive yardage. He shows no reluctance to face up, and with added bulk he could handle the physicality of blocking at the line in the NFL. When supporting the run, he positions and pesters with good effort and execution. GRADE: 6.1
Special Teams: If his knee fully recovers, Tate has the ability to rank with the elite combo kick returners in the league. He shows patience, vision and aggressive running style with the power to break tackles on the move. With six touchdowns to his credit and the NCAA combined kick yardage record (3,523), he brings great added value to his resume. GRADE: 8.7