Fantasy Upside
Golden Tate is coming off of a career year, which was his first in Detroit. In 2014, he posted personal highs with 142 targets, 99 receptions and 1.331 yards. He also scored four times and was over the century mark in five games. Tate caught at least five passes on 12 occasions last season and has been in the end zone for 16 scores over the past three years.
Fantasy Downside
Tate’s numbers were a bit inflated, as he was Matthew Stafford’s No. 1 option for the better part of four games while Calvin Johnson was battling an ankle injury. During that span, Stafford looked Golden’s way 49 times, leading to 31 catches for 483 yards and three TDs. In the games Johnson was healthy, Tate averaged 71 yards per contest with just one TD. All of his 100-yard games came in the first nine contests.
Bottom Line
Despite Johnson being the No. 1 WR on the team, Tate will still see plenty of targets, even if the Lions go with more of a 50-50 run/pass balanced offense. He still has blazing speed and led the league in yards after reception last year, with 709. Golden is the team’s primary slot receiver, which will limit his scoring chances. Even as the second option for Stafford, he’s still in our top-30 WRs.
