NFL Combine: Don’t let Auden Tate’s 40 time fool you

There are nine FSU football players participating in the NFL Combine this week.

The NFL Combine is underway and nine former Noles are looking to better their future by improving their draft stock in specified drills.

A few of the former players are projected to be drafted in the first three or four rounds. One of those players, junior wide receiver Auden Tate who led the Noles with 10 touchdown receptions in 2017 was hoping to creep into one of those slots.

Tate is projected to be drafted in the fourth or fifth round according to his draft profile on NFL.com.

However, a good forty yard dash time could have boosted his stock into a third round selection or better. Tate ran times of 4.69 and 4.74 which was disappointing to some, but if you were expecting much better you were misinformed.

40 Time

Tate could improve his speed with technique. The first thing I notice is he stands straight up when he takes off instead of staying low and driving his legs the first 10-15 yards.

Instead of blazing speed, FSU fans know this is what you can expect from Tate in the video below:

Thoughts

Tate has ridiculous body control and vice grip hands as you can see in the highlight video. He’s worth drafting by the fourth round just off his ability to be a huge threat in the red zone alone.

I’ll admit, I was a bit surprised to see Tate only have a 31 inch vertical as he seems to jump extremely high in the highlight video.

Maybe, he’s the type of player to shine during the game with the lights are brightest instead of the combine setting?

Whoever drafts him will be getting a steal, so don’t worry about the 40 time.