The Eagles offense has been disappointing this season to say the least. They have been averaging just 23.0 points per game in 2018 so far, six points less than their 2017 average (29.0/game). On Tuesday they made a move that they hope will provide a boost to the entire offense, trading for Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate. Tate will be providing help in a few different areas for the Eagles, and they will be mentioned below.
One thing Golden Tate is good at is screen plays. Since he entered the league in 2010, Tate leads the NFL in receptions off of screens (142), receiving yards off of screens (981) and yards after catches off of screens (1,265). Doug Pederson loves to call all sorts of screen plays for his offense, so it's a no-brainer that Tate will become a huge-piece of the Eagles screen game.
Another thing Tate is known for is being reliable on 3rd-down. Since he joined the Lions in 2014, Tate has the second-most 3rd-down receptions (124) in the NFL. At the start of the season, the Eagles struggled on 3rd down efficiency, and now are currently 13th in the league in 3rd down efficiency at 41.3%. Tate will be a huge help for Carson Wentz to start converting more 3rd-downs and keeping the offense driving down the field to score points.
Lastly, Tate also forces a lot of missed tackles when he has the ball in his hands. In fact, Tate has broken 63 (!!!) more tackles than the next closest receiver.
All of those broken tackles means more yards after the catch for Tate, which is exactly what the Eagles offense needs.
There is a lot to like about Eagles' addition of Golden Tate. Carson Wentz will be licking his chops the remaining eight games in the season with Tate on the field in midnight green.
