From viral one-handed grabs to elite pedigree, the Titans' top pick is leaning on his Ohio State championship roots to embrace the massive expectations of a rookie WR1.
If you've watched any clips from Tennessee Titans practices this offseason, there's about a 95% chance that Carnell Tate has been in one.
It's felt like a daily occurrence that he ends up in a clip making another one-handed catch. It's becoming a pattern at this point.
Tate is performing as expected for a No. 4 overall pick. The Titans knew the kind of player they were getting when they drafted him that high, and they paid him accordingly.
His rookie contract is for four years and is set at $51.1 million, per Spotrac. He is expected to come in and be a WR1 for the Titans as a rookie.
Tate has done all the right things this offseason, but he still hasn't been in an NFL game just yet. We still have to wait for the Titans to get through training camp and the preseason before we can see that.
After the Titans last day of mandatory minicamp wrapped up, Tate proved that he is ready for whatever pressure the NFL is going to bring.
He spoke to the media one last time before training camp and was asked about expectations, considering that he was a top-five pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Tate thought back to the years he spent at Ohio State and how it's prepared him for life in the NFL.
"Pressure comes from doing good things all the time," Tate said. "So, I mean, I'm used to it. I played at Ohio State. I played at the highest level. So, I'm just going to go out there, continue to be who I am, and just go play football at the highest level."
He hasn't been on an NFL field yet, but he's saying all the right things.
Tate understands that because of how hard he's worked from the time he started playing football as a child, to high school and college, and now the NFL, that pressure is just a part of this game if you put the work in, which he has.
Getting your name noticed at Ohio State as a receiver is tough when they have a player like Jeremiah Smith. Still, Tate was able to distance himself by performing on the biggest stages, as he said.
In 2024, he was on the Ohio State team that won the National Championship. He played in the College Football Playoff multiple times throughout his college career.
Tate knows what it means to face pressure in football; he's been doing it his whole career and knows he'll see it in the NFL.
He's going to get his chance with the Titans as a WR1. He's still got to prove that he belongs in the NFL, but after what he said following mandatory minicamp, there's no reason he can't handle it.
