National experts overlook emerging star Carnell Tate while clinging to a faded veteran narrative, ignoring the high-priced weapons and rookie talent fueling Cam Ward’s revamped offensive arsenal.
The Tennessee Titans have a much-improved receiver room compared to last season.
Calvin Ridley, Van Jefferson and Tyler Lockett were the starters in September. Ridley was a huge disappointment following his 1,000-yard campaign in 2024.
He looked lost week in and week out and then had a season-ending injury after seven games. Jefferson quickly lost his starting job to rookie Elic Ayomanor. Then Lockett was unable to provide the veteran boost the Titans were hoping for and was traded at the deadline to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Now, let's look at how the receiver room is looking for Cam Ward's second season.
Wan'Dale Robinson was one of the more significant free agency additions. He is on a four-year, $70 million deal per Spotrac and is already familiar with Brian Daboll's offense after a 1,000-yard season last year.
Then, the Titans selected Ohio State WR Carnell Tate in the 2026 NFL Draft. He has impressed this offseason with his many highlight-reel catches at practice.
Ridley returns on a restructured contract after it was speculated that the Titans would release him this offseason.
The Titans are learning from past mistakes with Ridley, but PFF's Dalton Wasserman and Max Chadwick had it all wrong. In a recent article, they ranked all 32 starting wide receivers.
They believed that Ridley would be the WR1 for the Titans in 2026, despite Tate clearly being the favorite to do so. Ridley was ranked No. 32 among all WR1s in the NFL.
This is what they had to say on Ridley.
"Ridley's 2025 season was cut short by injury, but he is expected to return as Tennessee's top target in 2026," PFF said. "He recorded 1,000-yard seasons in both 2023 and 2024. Before the injury, Ridley was averaging a career-high 17.8 yards per reception, which ranked fourth among wide receivers with at least 30 targets last season. Flanked by free-agent addition Wan'Dale Robinson and first-round pick Carnell Tate, Ridley should see more favorable matchups on the outside in 2026."
To think that the Titans are going to trust Ridley with WR1 duties after what he did last season is an interesting take, to say the least.
At certain points last year, Ridley couldn't catch a pass if he was wide open. We saw this in Week 1 versus the Denver Broncos. If Ridley had caught the pass, it would have moved the chains and had the potential to be a big play late in the fourth quarter.
At this point in his career, Ridley isn't a WR1 anymore. Tate is in the perfect position to take over the role, and Robinson will be in the slot.
That isn't a knock on Ridley, but it's just the reality of where he's at in his career after what we saw last season.
It's time for Tate to be the Titans' WR1, with Ridley as the WR2. I would be very surprised if the Titans trust Ridley to be their WR1 again in 2026.
