Pete Carroll talked with the Tacoma News Tribune's Eric Williams recently and Williams passed on some really interesting comments from the Seahawks' head coach. Of note was Carroll's statements on wide receiver Golden Tate.
Tate had only 21 receptions in his rookie year and was largely replaced by veteran free agent signee Brandon Stokley later in the year. Stokley was very effective last season but it's unclear if he'll be re-signed to the Hawks' roster in 2011. Per Williams, Carroll expects that Golden could earn snaps in the capacity that made Stokley so effective last season, especially on 3rd downs in the slot position.
Carroll said:
"There's nothing that we would like to see more than to elevate Golden's effectiveness. We just didn't get him over the hump last year, and we need to do that. He'll be in position to take over a huge role for us."
These are interesting comments and I too hope to see Tate in an expanded role next season. As I broke down recently in a two-part series, the Seahawks' receiver is a very explosive runner and can do some great things after the catch, but didn't contribute as much as expected due to imprecise route-running and a few miscues. Tate will look to iron out those issues and could be featured prominently in new Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell's offensive scheming much like Percy Harvin was used in Minnesota last season. Stay tuned for that.