If Pete Carroll didn’t know what Golden Tate could do, nobody did.
Tate shredded USC last year, guiding the Irish back from the brink before ultimately falling short, and the former Trojan coach rewarded Golden for his work by making him the 28th pick of the second round.
Since the end of the first round, many have been proclaiming Golden Tate the best value of day two, but it wasn’t enough to stop his slide to the bottom of the second round. While Golden’s 40-time was enough to quell and worries that he didn’t have great speed, his agility times in the three-cone and shuttle drills, as well as his 5-foot-10 height helped Tate slide behind Demaryius Thomas, Dez Bryant, and Arrelious Benn in the draft.
(Another example of why nearly five months of scouting makes a near-bulletproof prospect full of holes.)
Still, the pick is being universally lauded by those that are following the draft in real time, and is the second example of Carroll picking a guy his scouting team has rated higher (see Earl Thomas over Taylor Mays) than a former Trojan, in this case Damian Williams.
Congrats to Golden, who is a class act.