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Washington’s rookie tight end John Bates has a significant game coming up. At some point this week, Sammis Reyes, another rookie tight end, was diagnosed with a concussion and was declared “out” of Friday night’s matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Bates, who was selected in the fourth round of this year’s NFL Draft, played in just 24 snaps against the New England Patriots. However, with Reyes being diagnosed with a concussion and Temarrick Hemingway being diagnosed with one earlier in the week, Bates snap percentage can skyrocket.
Head Coach Ron Rivera stated post-game that he believed Bates blocked well; however, his angles and hand placement could have been better, as well as his base. Nevertheless, Bates made an excellent adjustment to the catch he made against the Patriots, displaying solid body control while still focusing on the football.
Rookie TE John Bates doing exactly what he did in college. Showing nice hands and body control to make good catches up the seam. Got bumped off his release quite a bit, but still a solid catch. pic.twitter.com/S9ohaG3CRW
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) August 13, 2021
Washington will likely feature Logan Thomas, John Bates, Ricky Seals-Jones, and Caleb Wilson against Cincinnati. Even still, I fully expect Rivera and his staff to feature Bates several times among the first and second-team players to assess how their fourth-round selection is coming along.
The tight end position, in general, is in flux; Washington does not have many reliable pass-catchers as it stands outside of Logan Thomas. But more importantly, nobody has been able to display an adequate level of blocking outside of Sammis Reyes. So, I have to ask, can someone step up to the d*amn plate already?