Micah Parsons counters the doubters, using Jaxon Smith-Njigba as proof Carnell Tate can still become a dominant NFL No. 1 receiver.
After all the buildup leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans were finally on the clock at No. 4 overall.
Jeremiyah Love went No. 3 overall to the Arizona Cardinals, but Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese were both on the board. Instead, the Titans went with a different Ohio State player and chose receiver Carnell Tate.
Tate brings an experienced receiver to the Music City, who can be a deep threat for Cam Ward with an elite route tree.
The pick wasn't the one everyone envisioned for the Titans, as Love was the player fans hoped for, but he still is a valuable prospect.
Malik Nabers and Micah Parsons weighed in on the pick. However, Parsons seemed to have a more informed opinion.
Nabers has been in the NFL for two seasons now and had a great start to his rookie year, leading the New York Giants with 1,204 receiving yards. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL after four games in 2025 and missed the rest of the year.
After playing most of his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers last offseason. He's made the Pro Bowl every year since he entered the league in 2021.
The discourse around Tate is that he wasn't even the No. 1 wide receiver at Ohio State. Tate was the No. 2 wideout behind Jeremiah Smith. Nabers believed that he couldn't be a No. 1 receiver in the NFL because of that.
"I don't see him being a No. 1. He hasn't been a No. 1 on the team that he's been on," Nabers said. "I mean, you have to be a No. 1 on the team that you're coming from to be a No. 1 receiver to the team that you're going to, cause they're gonna trust you a lot to be the first person they're throwing the ball to. The first person they count on. You can't be the second."
Parsons immediately disagreed, noting that Jaxon Smith-Njigba wasn't a true No. 1 receiver either but is crushing it in the NFL. Smith-Njigba played a lot of slot receiver at Ohio State, yet went on to lead the NFL with 1,761 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
"Hold on, you said you gotta be a No. 1 on the team that you coming from. JSN [Jaxon Smith-Njigba] was not No. 1. Bro, you gotta understand. The No. 1 player will probably be the No. 1 pick next year."
Nabers argued that D.K. Metcalf was the top receiver at the Seattle Seahawks when Smith-Njigba got there. After a promising rookie season from Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks traded Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers and gave Smith-Njigba a bigger role in 2025, and he excelled.
Parsons fired back by campaigning for Tate to be given a chance to prove he can be a No. 1 receiver in the NFL. He further explained that he liked the Titans' pick.
"I like the pick. This is the exact thing I was talking about. Yeah, you probably need defense. Yeah, you probably need offensive line, but you need to help Cam Ward. Calvin Ridley hasn't really been on the field a lot the last couple of years. They really don't have a guy that can go deep downfield to like Trevor said. This makes sense."
I don't know if I speak for all Titans fans, but I'm siding with Parsons on this one.
Sure, Tate wasn't the No. 1 receiver at Ohio State. Still, he was productive in college and had very few drops, finishing with 875 receiving yards and nine touchdowns last season.
If the Smith-Njigba experiment with the Seahawks has taught us anything, it's that Tate deserves a chance to prove he can be a No. 1 receiver in this league.
The situation the Titans are in is great for Tate. Ridley is still under contract until 2028.
Like Smith-Njigba before him, if Tate shows signs of handling the duties of a No. 1 receiver, I say the Titans give him that chance, either partially this season or in the following one.
There's a reason that General Manager Mike Borgonzi took Tate as high as he did. He clearly believed that Tate was the best player available.
The Ohio State product deserves a shot, especially with a promising young quarterback in Cam Ward. If the Titans play their cards right, and Tate lives up to expectations, Borgonzi may have made a steal at No. 4.
In a shocking turn of events, it seems Parsons knew more than Nabers despite not playing receiver in the NFL.