Ben Tate on Cleveland Browns RB’s: ‘No one that can touch me or do what I do’
Much of the attention paid to the Cleveland Browns this offseason has been in the direction of the team’s rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel, but the team’s new running back shined the spotlight on himself today as Ben Tate said there’s no one that can touch him or do what he can do when he’s on his game.
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Tate signed with the Browns in the offseason after backing up Arian Foster with the Houston Texans and signed with the Browns in part to be the team’s starting running back, but after the club drafted Terrence West and acquired Dion Lewis and signed undrafted free agent Isaiah Crowell, the path to the starting job may be a little more challenging than previously thought.
“Truthfully, I don’t look at it like that,” Tate said, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “You guys may see it like that, but there’s nobody in that room that scares me. I’m just honest.”
NFL Network’s Charley Casserly is already on record saying West, who rushed for 2,509 yards and 41 touchdowns last year at Towson, will beat out Tate for the starting running back job, so could the highly-productive rookie back be a bigger challenger than Tate envisions.
“Honestly I’m not worried about that, because I know when I’m on my game — no disrespect to any other running back here — but there’s no one that can touch me or that’s close to what I do,” Tate said. “I battled in and out every day with what some people consider the best running back in the league in Arian Foster. I’ve seen the best. I went against him every day. I battled it, so this around here to me is really not anything.”
You have to admire the confidence of Tate who really should have zero issues securing and keeping the team’s starting running back job this season and could be a nice option in your fantasy football leagues this season as his top challengers are a small school product, an undersized back on his second team and an undrafted rookie free agent.