With the 58th pick in the second round the Houston Texans pick Ben Tate.
Running back Ben Tate’s fast ascent up NFL teams’ draft boards culminated Friday when the Houston Texans selected him with the 26th pick (58th overall) in the second round of the NFL Draft.
Tate was the sixth running back selected and the second from the SEC, going ahead of players such as Tennessee’s Montario Hardesty and Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon.
“I’m just happy to be a Texan,” Tate said.
His selection extended Auburn’s streak to seven consecutive years and 32 of the past 33 of having at least one player drafted. Auburn has had at least one player selected in the draft’s first or second rounds in the past seven years, also.
Tate actually thought he would be selected earlier by the New England Patriots with the 53rd pick, but the Patriots opted to take defensive end Jermaine Cunningham (Florida).
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Tigers X things Tate is the #1 back in the draft.
Ben Tate was never short of confidence during his four years at Auburn.
It certainly hasn’t changed now that he’s swiftly moved up the ranks of an SEC-heavy class of running backs in this year’s NFL Draft, which kicks off with the first round tonight, the second and third rounds Friday and runs through Saturday.
“I think I really couldn’t do too much more than any other prospect has done to help improve my stock,” Tate said Wednesday on a conference call. “I’ve done really well. I think I did the best I can do through this whole process. I’m very excited about what I did to this point.”
Tate’s right. It’s tough to find a player in this year’s draft that has done more with the previous four months than him.
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Ben Tate told me last week he had no intentions of seeing his Draft stock drop at the NFL Combine.
He may have been selling himself a little short.
Tate had arguably one of the best all-around workouts Sunday among running backs, placing at or near the top in every event.
Here’s a rundown.
40-yard dash: 4.43 seconds – third place behind Cal’s Jahvid Best (4.35) and Clemson’s C.J. Spiller (4.37).
Bench press: 26 repetitions – tied for first place with Fresno State’s Lonyae Miller.
Vertical leap: 40.5” – second place behind Tennessee’s Monterio Hardesty (41.0”).
Broad jump: 10’4” – tied for first place with Hardesty.
3-cone drill: 6.91 seconds – sixth place behind Best (6.75), Wayne State’s Joique Bell (6.84), Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount (6.85), Hardesty (6.87) and Buffalo’s James Starks (6.89).
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The Tigers killed the Paladins, up next Dawgs!
By: Kevin Strickland
The Auburn Tigers bombed the Furman Paladins 63-31 in front of a Saturday afternoon Homecoming crowd.
The win was expected as was the relative ease with which it was achieved.
When you’re facing an opponent at a clear disadvantage in terms of talent, there are three things that must be achieved:
1) Avoid injury
2) Allow backups and rarely used players to gain experience; and
3) Learn something about your team
By that measure, Auburn’s win over the Paladins was a success.
The Tigers escaped without major injury.
Second string quarterback Neil Caudle played extensively. Anthony Gulley showed his wheels, breaking loose for a long touchdown run. Heralded freshman receiver DeAngelo Benton made his first significant impact of the season, catching six passes for 88 yards. Receivers Tim Hawtorne, Emory Blake and Derek Winter all made contributions.
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