Daren Weston Bates[1] (born November 27, 1990) is an American former professional football linebacker and current assistant special teams coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. He played college football for Auburn and was signed by the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He has also played for the Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans, and Tennessee Titans. He previously coached for the Seattle Seahawks and is co-host of the Raw Room podcast.

Daren Bates
refer to caption
Bates with the Tennessee Titans in 2019
Carolina Panthers
Position:Assistant special teams coordinator
Personal information
Born: (1990-11-27) November 27, 1990 (age 34)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school:Olive Branch
(Olive Branch, Mississippi)
College:Auburn
Undrafted:2013
Career history
As a player:
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:79
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:3
Defensive touchdowns:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Bates played his freshman through junior year at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Tennessee. While there, Bates was a 2-time first-team Tennessee All-State safety. His senior year, Bates played at Olive Branch High School in Mississippi for coach Scott Samsel. He collected 90 tackles and four interceptions and had nearly 900 yards of total offense as a senior and was named MHSAA All-Region 1 Class 5A team.

College career

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In 2009, Bates was tied for 39th in the SEC in tackles per game, with 5.4. In 2009, he started all 13 games at safety and totaled 70 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery. In 2010, he appeared in 12 games with nine starts and was 8th on team with 48 tackles. Bates was made the Freshman All SEC team and also was a second-team Freshman All American. Bates made his first collegiate start at linebacker in the season opener vs. Arkansas State after playing safety the previous years. In 2011 Bates started all 13 games and led the team with 104 tackles and was third on team with 8.5 tackles for loss (-30), 2.5 quarterback sacks (-15), and nine quarterback hurries. In 2012 Bates made 94 tackles (39) solo and 5.5 for losses he also batted away 4 passes and recovered 2 fumbles and intercepted a pass.

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 10+58 in
(1.79 m)
210 lb
(95 kg)
31+14 in
(0.79 m)
9+14 in
(0.23 m)
4.53 s 1.65 s 2.68 s 4.53 s 7.28 s 33.5 in
(0.85 m)
9 ft 9 in
(2.97 m)
15 reps
All values from Auburn Pro Day[2][3]

St. Louis Rams

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Bates was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent and made the final 53-man squad on September 1, 2013. He has been used primarily as a special teams player for the Rams providing a valuable contribution. On October 13, 2013 against the Houston Texans, Bates returned a fumbled kickoff return for a touchdown to score the first touchdown of his career.

In a December 21, 2014 game against the New York Giants, Bates leaped over the Giants' long snapper during a field goal attempt and blocked the kick, which was recovered by Will Herring for the Rams.[4]

On September 11, 2015, Bates was named one of the five captains for the 2015 season for the Rams, the first time in his career.[5]

Bates registered back-to-back seasons (2014-2015) of double-digit special team's tackles.

Oakland Raiders

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Bates with the Oakland Raiders in 2016

Bates signed with the Oakland Raiders on March 14, 2016.[6]

Tennessee Titans (first stint)

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On March 10, 2017, Bates signed a three-year, $6 million contract with the Tennessee Titans.[7] In 2017, Bates set a career high and ranked second on the team with 16 special teams' tackles.

On September 3, 2018, Bates was announced to be the special teams captain and tallied 10 special teams' tackles.[8]

Houston Texans

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After becoming a free agent in March 2020, Bates had a tryout with the Houston Texans on August 20, 2020.[9] He signed with the team three days later.[10] He was waived on August 31, 2020.[11]

Tennessee Titans (second stint)

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On September 14, 2020, Bates was signed to the Titans' practice squad.[12] He was elevated to the active roster on October 13 and October 17 for the team's weeks 5, 6, and 7 games against the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and Pittsburgh Steelers, and reverted to the practice squad after each game.[13][14][15] He was promoted to the active roster on October 27, 2020.[16]

Atlanta Falcons

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On October 18, 2021, Bates was signed to the Atlanta Falcons practice squad.[17] He was promoted to the active roster on November 2, 2021.[18] He was placed on injured reserve on November 18.[19] He was activated on December 25.

References

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  1. ^ "Daren Bates Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "Daren Bates, Auburn, SS, 2013 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  3. ^ "Former Auburn linebacker Daren Bates shows he has enough speed to move to safety". al.com. March 6, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  4. ^ Sherman, Rodger (December 21, 2014). "Rams player jumps over line for awesome field goal block". SB Nation. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  5. ^ Simmons, Myles (September 9, 2015). "Practice Report 9/9: Naming Captains and a Center". TheRams.com.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Oakland Raiders Sign Linebacker Daren Bates". Raiders.com. March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  7. ^ Wyatt, Jim (March 10, 2017). "Titans Agree to Terms with Linebacker Daren Bates". TitansOnline.com.
  8. ^ Wyatt, Jim (September 3, 2018). "Titans Elect Five Captains for 2018 Season". TitansOnline.com. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  9. ^ @AlbertBreer (August 20, 2020). "Today's tryout/visit list" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Texans Announce Roster Moves". HoustonTexans.com. August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  11. ^ Alper, Josh (August 31, 2020). "Texans cut Daren Bates, two others". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  12. ^ Inabinett, Mark (September 14, 2020). "Daren Bates returns to Tennessee Titans". AL.com. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  13. ^ Alper, Josh (October 13, 2020). "Titans activate two from COVID-19 list, call up four players for Tuesday night". NBCSports.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  14. ^ Wyatt, Jim (October 17, 2020). "Titans Make Roster Moves Leading Up to Sunday's Game vs. Texans". TennesseeTitans.com. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  15. ^ Williams, Charean (October 24, 2020). "Titans activate Dane Cruikshank from injured reserve". NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  16. ^ Wyatt, Jim (October 27, 2020). "Titans Promote LB Daren Bates, OL David Quessenberry to 53-Man Roster". TennesseeTitans.com.
  17. ^ "Falcons sign LB and special teamer Daren Bates to practice squad". The Falcoholic. SB Nation. October 18, 2021.
  18. ^ Simmons, Myles (November 2, 2021). "Falcons sign Daren Bates, James Vaughters to 53-man roster". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  19. ^ McElhaney, Tori (November 18, 2021). "Falcons roster moves: Hayden Hurst to injured reserve, analyzing other gameday moves". Atlanta Falcons. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
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