With the Patriots having the 22nd overall pick in the upcoming draft, a glaring need for the Pats this year is going to be finding a replacement for WR Wes Welker who will likely miss most if not all of the 2010 season.
Welker has been an integral part of the Patriots offense to say the least. The 7 year veteran has recorded three consecutive years of 110 or more receptions with New England and with him being on the field forces opposing defenses to account for both him and Randy Moss.
Sure, the Patriots do have WR Julian Edelman on the roster who finished the season with a 10 catch game for 103 yards, but it remains to be seen if the Kent State player is ready to fill the role of Walker in an every game situation.
One player who might be available when the Pats pick at #22 is Notre Dame WR Golden Tate. Tate is a junior and has game changing abilities as he was a threat to score whenever he touched the ball in college.
From the NFL.com combine report site,
Tate has been a very productive receiver for the Irish over the past two years and will be coming out as a true junior. He does a lot of things right and finishes games with a lot of stats but there is nothing physically about him that really jumps out at you. He lacks premier size, speed and acceleration yet he manages to get open and make a lot of plays. He is an excellent route runner that knows how to set defenders up and does not show much wasted movement when running patterns. He does a great job of going to the ball when slightly off target and will compete for virtually every pass. He is almost built more like a running back than a wide receiver but will fit some systems as a second or third receiver.
Tate’s scouting report sounds like a description of Wes Welker. It remains to be seen if the Pats front office will use a first round pick on a wide receiver but I believe he’s be a nice fit for the New England offense in 2010.
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