Getty Golden Tate of the New York Giants
After an underwhelming 2019 debut by all accounts for Golden Tate, the New York Giants wide receiver bounced back in a major way in Week 6 vs. the vaunted New England Patriots defense.
Will the slot-maven continue his ascent back into fantasy prominence with a juicy matchup against the Arizona Cardinals this week? Or will the pending returns of Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram limit his value? Let’s take a look.
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Golden Tate’s Fantasy Outlook vs. Arizona Cardinals
Golden Tate returned to the playing field in Week 5 following a four-game suspension in less than grand fashion. The usual target machine totaled just three receptions for a meager 13 yards. It was an extremely disappointing day for all of Tate’s fantasy owners who stashed him on their roster throughout the duration of his suspension.
However, Tate’s reward for his fantasy owners’ patience came a week later vs. New England. Tate would go on to haul in six receptions, 102 receiving yards, and one touchdown. He finished with a higher yards per catch average in Week 6 (17.0) than the total receiving yards (13) he accumulated the week prior. Yet, while Tate seems to be trending towards becoming the fantasy player he’s been known to be in years past, there are reasons for concern.
Tate thrilled the Giants fans when he got behind the Patriots secondary for a 64-yard touchdown reception a week ago. However, if you eliminate that one play from Tate’s stat line he would finish with five receptions for just 38 receiving yards, and a 7.6 yards per reception average. These numbers coincide quite favorably with the ones he produced in his underwhelming performance just one week prior.
The other thing to take into consideration is the fact that Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram will be returning to the team’s lineup this week. You could look at this one of two ways. First, the positive. The presence of two top-tier playmaking threats such as Barkley and Engram will shift the defense’s focus away from Tate, freeing up more opportunities for the wideout. The negative connotation would be that Barkley and his 5.37 career receptions per game, alongside the team’s leading receiver in Engram will eat into Tate’s workload, limiting his production for your fantasy team.
Tate and the Giants do have a fairly welcoming matchup on deck this week, as the Cardinals allow the 11th most passing yards on a per-game basis. They have also shown an inability to contain slot-receivers, evident by Tyler Boyd’s 10 reception, 123 receiving yard, 23.3 fantasy point showing back in Week 5. Arizona has also allowed at least one receiver to eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark in each of their past two games.
Should You Start or Sit Golden Tate in Week 7?
I’ve seen a lot of people try to peg Tate as the fantasy WR2 he was so often back in his Seattle and Detroit days. I would recommend tempering expectations.
Tate is worthy of a starting spot in your fantasy football lineups, however, he is more of a WR3/Flex start rather than a guy you can plug into one of your top two receiver slots.
The matchup this week is extremely enticing, and Tate seems to be growing a rapport with Daniel Jones as time goes on. However, he will go from the best skill player on the field just one game ago, to the third in the span of just a week.
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