Nobody was surprised to see Carnell Tate be the first wide receiver off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft on April 23, but there was some substantial surprise when the Tennessee Titans were the ones to draft him at No. 4 overall.
Tate was never asked to be the No. 1 receiver in his three years at Ohio State, so the presumption amongst NFL draft analysts and reporters was that he would go to a team where he could start as the No. 2 option.
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The leading thought was that Tate would wind up with the Washington Commanders at No. 7 overall, with the rationale being that he would complement Terry McLaurin and help star quarterback Jayden Daniels get back on track.
Some experts linked him to the New York Giants or Kansas City Chiefs. In New York, he’d slot in as the No. 2 behind Malik Nabers and, again, help a young quarterback in Jaxson Dart. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes still has tight end Travis Kelce as his safety blanket, so while Tate would provide receiving talent not seen in Kansas City since Tyreek Hill, he wouldn’t shoulder the weight of carrying an offense.
All of those hypotheses went up in smoke when the Titans took Tate. And, honestly, shame on us for forgetting that the Titans just drafted quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in 2025 and need to build around him. As for the chatter about Tate’s ability to be a true No. 1? Ward doesn’t want to hear it.
“He’ll have an explosive year just because he’ll get a lot of one-on-one matchups,” Ward said, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport, adding, “I think this is one of the best offenses he could be in just because he’s going to get coached, but he’s not going to get overcoached, and he’s going to still be able to play football how he sees it.”
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The Titans made Robert Saleh, a career defensive guru, their next head coach in January, and former Giants head coach Brian Daboll was hired as the offensive coordinator shortly thereafter.
While Daboll’s tenure with the Giants wasn’t exactly memorable, he is credited with developing Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen. Daboll was the Bills’ offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. In 2020, Buffalo acquired star wide receiver Stefon Diggs from Minnesota. Diggs was the key to unlocking Allen’s full potential. The vision in Nashville, I’d imagine, is for Tate to do the same for Ward.
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