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AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Ben Tate spent most of Auburn’s pro day watching, relaxing and trying to stay loose.
The running back was content to let his numbers from the NFL combine stand, and why not? Tate, whose strong senior season was overshadowed by Alabama’s Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, turned in some of the better stats among running backs in Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago.
“I think a lot of people were surprised, a lot of the scouts and a lot of you guys in the media,” Tate said Tuesday. “But I knew what I could do the whole time. I’ve been telling y’all I was fast, but no one really wanted to listen to me. My coaches knew, and my family knew.”
Now the NFL scouts do, too. Tate turned in the third-fastest 40 time (4.43 seconds) among running backs, behind C.J. Spiller and Jahvid Best.
He was second in the vertical leap, broad jump and 20-yard shuttle run. His 26 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press tied for tops with Lonyae Miller.
The solid performance allowed Tate to participate only in position drills at the end of pro day, working with St. Louis Rams running backs coach Sylvester Croom and catching passes from Chris Todd. He said he never considered skipping Auburn’s pro day “because the coaches still want to see you compete.”
Other players working out for pro scouts on Tuesday included defensive end/linebacker Antonio Coleman, cornerback Walt McFadden and quarterback Chris Todd. Coleman was the only other Auburn player invited to the combine.
“When you work as hard as I’ve been working, just to go in and do well at the combine, that makes pro day a little bit easier,” Tate said. “I can sit back and watch those other guys doing those drills. I was even recording some of them. I had fun at the beginning but toward the end I had to start getting focused because it was my time doing position drills.”
Tate rushed for 1,362 yards as a senior in his only year as the fulltime starter, more than doubling the 664 yards he had a junior. Late in the season, he attracted some attention by saying he was the best back in the state, not Ingram.
Tate still finds motivation from any remaining doubters after leading Auburn in rushing the past three years.
“It drives me, it keeps me working hard,” he said. “I don’t mind being the underdog. One day the underdog will be on top.
“I think I’ve been underestimated my whole career.”
He said he had to trim some weight after Auburn’s win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.
“I lost some of that fat from the bowl game,” Tate said. “I pigged out down there and got to the bowl game and weighed about 220-something. I’ve never been that heavy before.”
Most projections have Tate as a likely mid-round NFL pick, but he preferred not to say what kind of feedback he has been getting or what teams he has already set up meetings with.
Tate’s strong senior year and combine performance can’t hurt, though.
“My junior year was a horrible year, and I came in and worked hard this past year and all the hard work has been paying off,” he said. “I had a great combine and today I did a great job. I can’t really complain. The only thing I can control is what I can do and throughout the process so far I think I’ve done pretty well.”
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