Titans GM reveals why Arvell Reese's uncertain role sidelined him in favor of receiver Carnell Tate.
The Tennessee Titans seemed in a perfect position to take Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love at No. 4 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The teams ahead of them didn't have a need at running back, or so people thought.
With the Las Vegas Raiders, everyone knew that they were going to take Indiana quarterback and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. That was the worst-kept secret of the offseason.
The New York Jets franchise-tagged Breece Hall and had more pressing needs besides running back.
It seemed like the Arizona Cardinals weren't going to take Love. They could've still used another quarterback with Jacoby Brissett in place to start. The Cardinals also needed help on the offensive line and at edge rusher.
However, the Arizona rushing attack was one of the few in the NFL that was worse than the Titans' last season. The Titans had the third-fewest rushing yards (93.5) per game, while the Cardinals had the second-fewest (93.1).
For reference, Arizona's leading rusher was Michael Carter, who had 333 rushing yards.
Arizona broke the hearts of many Titans fans in the Music City and took Love at No. 3.
The Titans had to decide what to do now that Love was off the board. Both Ohio State products Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese were still on the board.
Styles would fit the need for a fast and physical presence at middle linebacker on Robert Saleh's defense. Reese played linebacker in college as well, but his size indicates that he could be used as an edge rusher, too.
Instead, the Titans went with Ohio State receiver Carnell Tate at No. 4.
Even though Tate was by no means a bad pick and has the traits to be a No. 1 receiver in the NFL, fans questioned why the Titans didn't go with either Styles or Reese at No. 4.
The New York Giants selected Reese, and the Washington Commanders selected Styles.
On Tuesday, we got an answer on why Tennessee decided not to pick Reese from Assistant General Manager Dave Ziegler. With Tate, there was no doubt about what he could do on the Titans.
A player like Reese had too many question marks on what his best position would be in the NFL.
"Yeah, I think at the end of the day, what you're looking for almost anytime you're making a pick is you want to have a consensus as an organization on what the vision for the player is and how they fit, whether it be into your offense or into your defense, and what that looks like," Ziegler said. "And you want everybody to have a good vision of what that is and feel comfortable with what that vision is. And at the day with Carnell (Tate), we just had a very good—I just think there was that. There was a consensus vision on what he's going to do, where he's going to play, how he's going to fit in, and what he's going to bring to this team."
It was simple with Reese.
He's the epitome of what used to be called a "tweener" in the NFL. This term has been used to describe a player whose size makes it hard to predict which position they will play.
Reese spent time at linebacker at Ohio State, but he could be better suited as an edge rusher.
This is similar to how Micah Parsons was coming out of Penn State. People weren't sure where he would play either. While Parsons did end up turning into a very productive edge rusher, the Titans just weren't willing to take that risk by selecting Reese.
Tate didn't give the Titans any questions about who he is as a player. Tate is a true deep threat and has an elite route tree. If all goes well, he could be a No. 1 WR for Tennessee in the near future.
With Reese, there were just too many unknowns.