Golden Tate a true No. 1 receiver

I’ve made my admiration for Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate quite clear, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s replaced Jordy Nelson and Antonio Brown, who are both finally getting the “elite” recognition they’ve deserved for over a year, as the NFL’s most underrated receiver. I mean, he was already incredibly underrated while with the Seattle Seahawks, because he would have put up No. 1 receiver numbers in a more pass-happy offense. Tate looks like an absolute bargain, and he’s been even better than we expected as the No. 2 receiver in the Lions offense.

Live Feed

FanSided

With Calvin Johnson out for plenty of time with an ankle injury, Tate has essentially been the team’s No. 1 receiver for a few games this season, and, as we saw last week, there hasn’t really been a drop-off. In fact, he’s second in the NFL with 48 receptions, and he’s also one of the league leaders with 649 receiving yards. Although he continues to be excellent working out of the slot, Tate continues to make an impact downfield, as he is averaging 13.5 yards per reception, which, when combined with his impressive 73.8% catch rate, yields an even ten yards per target. So the Lions are essentially averaging a first down whenever they target Tate, who also had yards per target averages of around nine while with the Seahawks.

We knew the Lions pass-happy offense would allow Tate to shine, but he’s done more than just shine; he’s been a legit No. 1 receiver in Johnson’s absence. I’d wager that he would be a No. 1 wideout for several teams around the league, and I think teams with talented wide receivers like the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons.

Not only is he a reliable target who rarely drops passes and catches most of everything thrown at him, but Tate is also a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands; something the Seahawks have missed, as Percy Harvin didn’t fulfill expectations before being traded. When he was at Notre Dame, Tate was compared to Steve Smith due to his toughness, ability at the catch point, and explosiveness. According to the Pro Football Focus, Smitty leads receivers with 14 missed tackles forced, while Tate is second with 11. He’s also second among WRs in total yards after the catch, averaging 7.1 yards after the catch per reception, meaning that over half of his YPR is derived from his work after he makes the catch.

Smaller wideouts can be No. 1 receivers, but they have to have the ability to stretch the field deep and win at the catch point. Sammy Watkins, Odell Beckham Jr., Steve Smith, and Golden Tate are all prototypes of this extraordinarily dangerous receiver. All four of these players can win inside our outside, can make outstanding plays at the catch point, are tough, understand the nuances of the position, can make big plays downfield, can generate big-time YAC with their agility, are quick in the short-range game, and have good hands.

Tate’s big-time success with the Lions shouldn’t come as a surprise, because all he needed was more targets. With the Seahawks, Tate was constrained statistically by the offense, so his fantasy output didn’t match his actual ability or even his true impact to the Seahawks offense. Had he received the targets he’s currently getting with the Lions, I have no doubt that one of the NFL’s most underrated players would have earned credit sooner. “Fail Mary” or not, Tate is one of the game’s most dangerous weapons, and he has the consistency to match the playmaking ability; a rare trait that a select few players (Watkins is becoming one of them) like Nelson and Tate possess.

Since 2012, Golden Tate has a catch rate of 68.0%, and no wide receiver with at least 2,000 receiving yards since that time has a higher catch rate. That speaks volumes about Tate’s consistency, and it shows that he didn’t suddenly become this good. Year-to-year improvements are always to be expected, but it’s possible that Tate could have blossomed into this kind of a player sooner. He was never targeted in the triple digits (99 targets in 2013 was his career high), but he’s on pace to get well over 100 this season.

At this rate, Tate is expected to finish the year with over 1,400 receiving yards due to an average of just over 92 yards per game. While that pace is too high given that his targets will go down once the players around him are healthy, the fact that he is producing at this rate while being the focal point of the Lions offense is evidence that he can carry a passing attack. Maybe I’m speaking too soon, but I think the statistics over the past couple of years show that Tate truly is this good.