Most wide receivers spend the leadup to draft night convincing themselves they belong in the top 10. Carnell Tate spent it convincing himself he was going seventh, eighth, or ninth.
Then the Tennessee Titans took him fourth overall, and the Ohio State star was as surprised as anyone in the building.
Tate said on the St. Brown Podcast this week that he had been mentally preparing for either the Washington Commanders at No. 7 or the Cleveland Browns at No. 9. “I was locked in with the Commanders,” he said. When Roger Goodell read his name with the No. 4 pick, Tate’s first reaction was disbelief.
“I was shocked for real,” he said. “I didn’t expect to go that high.”
For context, no wide receiver had been mocked in the top five in any of the major industry boards heading into draft week. The expectation across the league was that the top four picks would be a quarterback (Cam Ward to the Titans was widely projected), a generational defensive talent, an offensive tackle, and another offensive lineman. Tate going at No. 4 broke the entire structure of the first round.
The Titans had taken Cam Ward earlier in the draft cycle as their franchise quarterback. Tennessee then had to make a choice. They could go best player available on defense. They could fix the offensive line. Or they could find Ward a true No. 1 receiver. They picked door three.
On its own, this is a defensible call. Quarterbacks are made by the people catching the football. Ward will not develop into a franchise quarterback if he is throwing to a roster of 70-snap rotational receivers. Tate is the closest thing to a plug-and-play No. 1 in this draft class. Giving him to Ward immediately is the kind of move that either accelerates a rebuild by two years or sets the franchise back five.
The reaction across the league was less measured. Multiple NFL analysts called the pick a reach. Pro Football Network had Tate going No. 11. ESPN’s Mel Kiper had him at No. 9. CBS Sports had him at No. 13. The internal scouting consensus was that Tate was a top-15 talent, not a top-five talent.
Tate has the size and the route tree to play outside in the NFL. He ran a 4.42 at the combine, which is fast but not elite for a receiver in this class. His tape at Ohio State showed soft hands, plus body control, and the ability to win contested catches. What he did not do consistently was create separation against press coverage. That is the skill that separates No. 1 receivers from No. 2 receivers in the NFL.
His statement that he expected to go to the Commanders is interesting on its own. Washington taking him at No. 7 would have made sense. The Commanders need pass-catchers around Jayden Daniels. Cleveland at No. 9 would have made sense too. Both franchises had Tate high on their boards. They never got the chance.
For now, Tate is in Nashville. He will pair with Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins to give Ward a deep receiver room. If Tate plays like the No. 4 pick, the entire Titans rebuild gets a year faster. If he plays like a No. 13 pick, the Titans just wasted a top-five selection on a wide receiver in a year where they could have addressed multiple needs.
That is what makes draft night so brutal. The grade does not come back for three years. By then, the Titans will know whether they got the steal of the draft or the punchline of it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
