2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft: Pick No. 35

Rd. # Player Pos. College 2 35 Golden Tate WR Notre Dame General Manager: Hyperion Ecta

With the 35th pick of the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Notre Dame wide receiver Golden Tate.

Here is Hyperion Ecta's reasoning for the pick:

Tampa Bay has seemingly found a quarterback to lead their franchise in the future. But, if Josh Freeman is to succeed, he needs weapons to throw to. Tampa Bay didn't have much to begin with, and with the loss of Antonio Bryant to the Bengals, wide receiver is a position in dire need. Luckily for the Bucs, a very talented prospect is available to them at number #35, and that prospect is Golden Tate.

Notre Dame's Golden Tate is a shifty receiver who excels at making plays after the catch. An outstanding athlete, he shows great speed and agility in space with an amazing ability to evade tacklers with both strength and footwork. Tate provides everything you need from a wide receiver- great hands, excellent body control, confidence, speed, quickness, bulk and versatility. He's probably a touch shorter than you prefer and may lack the route running capabilities of some of the receivers in this class, but he can develop over time and become a solid #1 or fantastic #2 receiver for the Bucs.

Other possibilities at this pick lay on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive end is a big need but at this high in the round, I found the value to be greater at WR with Tate than with any of the ends. Also, defensive back is a possibility which should be addressed at some point, but with Wilson and McCourty off the board, I once again found Tate to be the wiser option. Luckily for the Bucs, they have another 2^nd round pick coming up, so look out for that one.

Check out the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.