15 Fantasy Football Transactions for Week 1
Buy Ben Tate
To this point, you should be buying Ben Tate. His historical advanced metrics have looked fine, with his biggest question mark being health. But if you can ignore the potential for injury, Tate is in store for a big 2014 campaign.
As a runner, Tate is solid. As a pass-catcher, he leaves a lot to be desired, at least from an efficiency standpoint – his career 0.07 Reception NEP per target average is significantly lower than the league’s 0.27 average. But it’s been reported that Mike Pettine is comfortable with Tate being on the field for third downs, which means he’ll have plenty of opportunity to make up for a lack of efficiency with volume.
Perhaps the Tate owner in your league isn’t in love with him. If that’s the case, trying to get him before the season begins is a smart move. The Browns get the Steelers in Week 1, a team that ranked 23rd against the run according to our metrics a season ago. And Pittsburgh hasn’t done enough on the defensive line to bring much confidence to think they’ll be better in 2014. Tate should be solid right out of the gate.
