Former Wildcats Litton, Tate Declare For NFL Draft

Auden Tate catches a touchdown pass for Wharton in a 2014 game against King. Tate and former Wharton quarterback Chase Litton have both declared that they will be entering the 2018 NFL Draft. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

In 2013, the last year Wharton High’s football team went to the playoff, Wildcats’ quarterback Chase Litton was throwing passes to wide receiver Auden Tate.

Next year, they may both be on NFL rosters.

Tate, a starter for Florida State at wide receiver last season, and Litton, the starting quarterback at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, have both declared for the 2017 NFL draft, scheduled for April 27-29 in Philadelphia.

The former Wildcats just completed their junior years in college, passing on their final years of eligibility.

If they ended up drafted, as expected, that would make three members of the 2012 Wharton football team, including Tampa Bay Buccaneer Vernon Hargreaves, on NFL rosters.

Tate will forego his senior season at FSU after catching 40 passes for 548 yards and a team-leading 10 touchdowns in 2018. At 6-5, 225, he has all the measurables NFL scouts want these days in a wide receiver. He has very good speed and hands, exceptional height and a physical style that gives him an edge against smaller defensive backs in the red zone.

Auden Tate

Shoulder and foot injuries limited his playing time at FSU in his first two seasons. However, a solid junior campaign and the changing of the coaching staff at FSU nudged him to go pro.

CBS Sports ranks Tate as the No. 7 wide receiver in the upcoming draft. A mock draft at DraftUtopia.com has Tate going 10th overall in the first round to the Los Angeles Rams, while other mock draft “experts” have him being selected in the first three rounds.

USA Today ranked Tate as the 39th best prospect in the draft.

One mock draft, WalterFootball.com, has Tate going 77th overall to Cincinnati, with Washington taking Litton a pick later.

At 6-6, 235-pounds, Litton also has many of the tools NFL scouts drool over, including a lively arm to go with his height.

Chase Litton

Litton graduated from Wharton a year earlier than Tate, and was a three-star recruit (Rivals.com, 247Sports) who initially committed to hometown USF and reportedly had offers from LSU and Western Kentucky, but settled in on Marshall, where he was a three-year starter.

He became one of only two quarterbacks in school history to complete at least 60 percent of their passes in three straight seasons.

Litton’s draft prognosis, however, is not as rosy as Tate’s, as he is coming out in a quarterback-heavy year and with some scouts feeling he could benefit from an additional year of college.

Although both former Wildcats were very good basketball players in high school, it looks like football has turned out to be the right choice for both of them.

NT/WC Reader Survey Results: Best Breakfast

First Watch Wesley Chapel manager Kerri Hagerman is proud that First Watch has been voted as having the “Best Breakfast in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel” by Neighborhood News readers.

When it comes to places to grab a hot and healthy breakfast in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, our readers left no choice that their favorite place to do so was First Watch.

While the area doesn’t have a wealth of breakfast options, readers still managed to name 20 places they would call their favorite. But, it was First Watch, located on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza in Wesley Chapel, and then everyone else, as the Bradenton-based chain garnered 56.5 percent of the votes. No other style of restaurant dominated their category in the Best of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel the way that First Watch did.

But that is of little surprise to anyone who has waited in line — and who hasn’t? — to dine there.

“I think it is multiple things,’’ says Kerri Hagerman, the manager for the Wesley Chapel location, which happens to be the fourth-ranked performing First Watch of more than 300 locations nationwide. “One of the biggest reasons is that we focused on quality as a company — quality of the food, quality of the service and the quality of the  people we have working for us.”

Hagerman says it all leads to achieving the company’s mission statement: “You First.”

The restaurant offers a unique menu of breakfast, brunch and lunch items, like its popular avocado toast, lemon ricotta pancakes, a “chickichanga” burrito with whipped eggs, chicken, chorizo sausage, various cheeses, a mild Veracruz sauce and a variety of skillet hashes.

Every made-to-order menu item is made with the promise of fresh, and often local, ingredients.

The Tampa Bay area, including the Wesley Chapel location, also is First Watch’s test market for limited time offerings. Every 10 weeks or so, five new items are colorfully displayed on the chalkboard at the front of the restaurant. If they end up being a hit, they make it onto the regular menu. So, items that some across the country are experiencing for the first time now, the Wesley Chapel location featured a year ago.

Items currently being featured: a Mediterranean tomato stew called Shakshuka with Moroccan red harissa stew topped with cage-free poached eggs, a supergreen frittata wrap, an acai bowl topped with fruit and granola, rainbow toast featuring ricotta cheese-covered brioche toast topped with berries, mango and local honey and a blue booster drink with white grape juice, blueberry, lemon and basil.

Hagerman says First Watch’s juices, like the popular Kale tonic that was tested here but is now a regular menu item, are always big hits. While the restaurant has a reputation for innovative healthy foods, there also is plenty for those looking for something more traditional.

“We do serve healthy foods, but we also have a large variety of indulgent items as well,” Hagerman said. “There’s is definitely plenty for those looking for something heartier as well.”

 

Nibbles & Bytes

Casa Ramos Closes

Those of us who have been in New Tampa for the last 20 or more years recognize that certain restaurant locations just can’t seem to find a successful concept to stick around long-term. And, while Kobe Steakhouse seems to have finally stabilized the freestanding space in front of the Pebble Creek Collection that first opened as Harris & Co., there’s little doubt that the space first occupied by Good Fellas in the plaza now known as the Shoppes of Amberly still has not found a long-term winner.

Since Good Fellas, the space has been Crabby Bill’s, a New Tampa Oyster House and Sushi Tsu Japanese Steakhouse, all of which had some success but didn’t stick around as long as some of us had hoped (especially Sushi Tsu), but now, the most recent eatery at 15363 Amberly Dr. — Casa Ramos Mexican Restaurant — which opened in 2013, also has gone the way of the dinosaur.

The family-run chain of more than 20 upscale Casa Ramos and Azteca restaurants at one time had 40 locations in Oregon, Washington state and Orlando, although we were not able to get in touch with anyone about why Casa Ramos closed sometime around the first week in January.

Mellow Mushroom Opens On SR 56

Even though I’ve never been the biggest chain restaurant fan, I am really enjoying the new Mellow Mushroom that opened last month as the anchor tenant of a new plaza on S.R. 56, across from the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO).

Only open a few days at our press time — Aspen Dental, T-Mobile and Mattress 1 all opened a week or two earlier (with Men’s Wearhouse, Great Clips and Noire Nail Bar all set to open shortly) — Mellow Mushroom (25662 Sierra Center Blvd.) already is attracting crowds with its thin- and crisp original (thicker) crust pizzas, delicious meatballs, salads, oven-baked wings and the most spacious bar area near TPO this side of Ford’s Garage.

For more info, stop in, call Mellow Mushroom at (813) 948-7337 or visit MellowMushroom.com.

Congrats Go Out To…

The Dimmitt Automotive Group and its new Audi Wesley Chapel dealership on S.R. 56 in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI) on S.R. 56 (at 2500 Lajuana Blvd.).

The Dimmitt family hosted an awesome VIP event on Jan. 18 which included the dignitaries shown to the right: (l.-r.) Pete Hamilton, the southern region president of Audi of America, Dimmitt Auto co-president Peter Dimmitt, Cian O’Brian, the executive VP and COO of Audi of America and Audi Wesley Chapel GM Allen Majewski. Not pictured is Dimmitt CEO Scott Larguier, who hosted the event.

For more info about Audi Wesley Chapel, visit AudiWesleyChapel.com or call (813) 607-3100.

We also congratulate the expanding Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCC) for its move to its new office at 1868 Highland Oaks Blvd, Suite A-1, in Lutz (not a misprint!).

For membership and upcoming event info, visit WesleyChapelChamber.com or call (813) 994-8534. — GN