Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate has strengthened himself as a consensus first-round talent for the 2026 NFL Draft, with discussion pushing him into the top-10. After a promising junior season in 2025, his stock is at an all-time high as the draft in Pittsburgh is approaching quickly.
Carnell Tate Hit With Harsh ‘Not Much Upside’ Take That Can Impact Draft Stock
ESPN’s NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller joined the “Ultimate Cleveland Sports” podcast this week and weighed in on whether Tate can be a legit WR1 in the NFL.
“I think that the knock right is that he’s maxed out, is what you hear, and that’s fine,” Miller said. “That’s Ohio State, Alabama teams that are coached well. Players may not have as much upside, but there’s also less to project.
“I think if you’re looking at the field, he showed up at the combine, he’s not a burner. He’s not going to run away from guys. I’ve always been a believer that wide receivers should be able to get open without that.”
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However, Tate continues to receive strong backing from other respected evaluators, as both Yahoo analyst Matt Harmon and rookie scouting portfolio creator Matt Waldman identified him as the top wide receiver in this draft class last week. Their evaluations prove his ability to produce efficiently on the outside, combine that with consistent scoring production, and deliver strong overall impact metrics.
Despite missing three games due to injury, Tate earned Second-Team All-American honors in 2025 and delivered promising performances, including a career-best 183-yard outing against Minnesota. He finished the season with an 84.5 score in the PFSN College Football WR Impact Metric, ranking No. 8 in the nation. He finished his Ohio State career with 121 receptions for 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns, having a reception in 37 of the 39 games in which he played.
Meanwhile, Miller did offer additional praise for Tate’s technical abilities.
“He is a fluid and efficient route runner,” Miller said. “There’s no wasted steps in his game. It doesn’t look like an and-one mixtape when he’s trying to get open against players who some of these smaller, speed receivers just can’t break down. They can’t cut like he can, so there aren’t a lot of questions, honestly. You know, you’re not getting elite height, weight, speed, but you’re getting elite hands and really good route running.”
Opinions on Tate’s draft positioning remain split around the league. Daniel Jeremiah has suggested Tate can be considered as high as the No. 2 overall pick, given the confidence some evaluators have in his game. However, Rich Cimini has pushed back on that idea, saying that selecting Tate that early would be questionable. Cimini even said Tate may not have been the top receiver on his own Ohio State team.
According to PFSN’s NFL Mock Draft Simulator rankings, Tate is PFSN’s WR1 in the 2026 NFL Draft, and a true X-factor in waiting. He first showed promise with a 52-733-4 receiving line in 2024, producing in spite of his place as the Buckeyes’ third option alongside Jeremiah Smith and first-round NFL Draft pick Emeka Egbuka. But in 2024, Tate’s technical feel was still underdeveloped.
He was primarily a vertical threat for Ohio State, who lacked polish. He flipped the script 180 degrees in 2025, reinventing his game and becoming a true route running expert with rare sink, throttle control, and stem IQ for his size. Tate still has the long-strider range, body control, and logic-defying catch-point focus that makes him so potent in 50-50 situations (he boasts a jaw-dropping 28.2% catch rate over expectation, per TruMedia), but at the same time, he’s a deadly multi-level separator who can win 1-on-1, convert on clutch downs, and generate big plays.
