Running Back

Auburn

5-11 219

40 time: 4.45

Draft board overall prospect rank: #131

Draft board running back rank: #10

Overall rating: 63*

            4/6/10: Ben Tate is an extremely frustrating prospect for me. He has all the physical talent in the world and showed to me at the Combine that he had even more physical raw talent then I had thought before. He ran well with a 4.45 at 5-11 219. He jumped 10 foot 4 inches in the broad jump and had a vertical leap of 40.5 inches and he looked amazing in both the running back and the pass catching drills. He has looked great on tape before in the past, like a first rounder, but for every great game, he would have a game where he would pretty much completely disappear. He would be lazy, wouldn’t break tackles. He’d go down on first contact way too often. He’d fumble. He’d struggle to average 3 yards per carry seemingly every other week. He can’t be doing that if he’s going to be in the NFL. He’ll need to be consistent and show up to play every week if he wants to be a starting running back in the NFL like he’s capable, because if he’s a starting running back and has a back game, he could lose the game for his team. I don’t think he’ll translate well to a league where he has to take a lot of contact from a lot of big guys because he doesn’t handle contact well. He’ll be best in a one cut and boom zone blocking offense because that’s his game, hole, explode through, get hit, go down. Even in his good games, he wouldn’t break a ton of tackles, at least not as many as he should for his size. He’s not a true big play threat and doesn’t turn the corner well. He has decent hands, but not great, and he doesn’t pass block well. I like his upside, but I don’t think he has the will and tenacity to be a feature back in the level.

NFL Comparison: Rudi Johnson

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here