Ben Tate has certainly flashed the ability to be a feature back in the NFL. Tate was drafted in the 2nd round in 2010 by the Texans to be the starting running back, but broke his ankle in the pre-season, which opened the door for Arian Foster to emerge as one of the best running backs in the NFL. Ben Tate impressed as his backup, averaging 5.09 YPC on 240 carries in 2011 and 2012 and got his shot to be the starter in 2013 when Arian Foster went down with a season ending back injury.
Unfortunately, the injury bug reared its head for Tate again as he broke several ribs. He only missed 2 games, the final two of the season, but was definitely hampered by the injury as he averaged just 4.3 yards per carry on 181 carries. Tate clearly has the talent and toughness to be a lead back in the NFL, but he’s also missed 24 of 64 possible regular season games in his career thus far and is coming off of an injury plagued season. The running back position is becoming devalued because of their short career spans and injury proneness.
Given all that, credit the Browns for getting him on a cheap short-term deal that will pay him just 7 million dollars over 2 millions. The Browns should still add a solid backup for Tate in case the injury bug comes back, but Tate could be a dominant runner in their zone blocking scheme under Kyle Shanahan. Comparing this deal to some of the other contracts received by running backs this off-season, Darren McFadden (1 year, 4 million), Joique Bell (3 years, 9.3 million), Donald Brown (3 years, 10.5 million), and Rashad Jennings (4 years, 14 million), the Browns definitely got a very solid deal.
Grade: A-
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