Brandon Tate

Tate entered his sixth season with the Bengals as one half of the punt and kickoff return team, with Adam Jones making up the other. Last season, Tate racked up 171 punt return yards on 27 attempts paired with 413 kickoff return yards on 18 attempts. The 28-year-old doesn't see too many opportunities at wide receiver, as he was only targeted three times last season, giving him two receptions, one of which was a touchdown. In seven seasons, Tate has only scored one touchdown off kickoff/punt returns, making him a less-than-favorable option for fantasy purposes. Tate was released in late August, after losing his return job to undrafted rookie Alex Erickson, before surfacing as a depth WR/KR with the Bills.

Tate's primary role over his career has been in the return game, but he was pressed into more wide receiver duty in 2014 thanks to all of the Bengals injuries at the position. Even with his increase in offensive snaps, Tate's production was underwhelming, as he managed just 17 catches for 193 yards and a touchdown, with only two red zone targets. The Bengals are getting Marvin Jones back and signed Denarius Moore in the offseason, so Tate will likely be relegated back to a fourth or even fifth receiver role this season.

Tate showed some development as a receiver in the preseason, but still his primary impact will be in the return game. While Andrew Hawkins is out, he could see the field in three and four-receiver sets.

Tate is competing with Armon Binns and rookie Mohamed Sanu for the Bengals' number two receiver position. Although he has never produced fantasy worthy receiving numbers in his career, Tate has great value in the return game, and should help the Bengals most in that department.

With Randy Moss busting out of town, Tate saw a little more work in Year 2 and did well – at least on a per-play basis (9.4 YPT, 18.0 YPC). With Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Chad Ochocinco ahead of him on the depth chart, Tate still has a chance to carve out a larger role as the team's best deep threat. Tate's the only receiver on the roster with legitimate deep speed – his four catches of 40-plus last year came on just 46 targets. Just keep in mind Tate's role as a receiver is far from solidified, and he could easily see most of his work as a kick returner, a role in which he scored two touchdowns last year.

Tate has some veterans between him and the upper echelon of the Patriots' wideout depth chart, but if he can demonstrate in training camp that he is past knee woes that slowed him both in college and as a rookie, he could emerge as a sleeper candidate, given his big play/return upside.

The Pats had plenty of ammo in terms of picks at April's draft to roll the dice on a player like Tate, who comes with off-field (he failed a drug test (marijuana) at the Combine) and injury (ACL/MCL surgery last year) concerns. That said, before the raising of those red flags, he was viewed as a first-round talent and with the Patriots, who are well-stocked at wideout, he can be worked into the system slowly, where they can groom him into a big play/return threat down the road. Chances are he'll start the 2009 season on the PUP list.