Titans' Carnell Tate Was Shocked This NFC Team Didn't Draft Him

Shortly before the 2026 NFL Draft commenced on April 23, former Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate appeared on “Up & Adams” and spoke like a man who knew what was about to happen.

“Terry [McLaurin], he’s happy for me. We chopped it up a little bit here and there,” Tate said of his fellow Ohio State alum Terry McLaurin, a receiver for the Washington Commanders.

When Kay Adams asked if he’d ever met Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Tate said, “I haven’t. He reached out over social media to me. We’ve got a little text going back and forth. He just said, ‘Hopefully, it all works out, and you end up here.’ He was just wishing me well.”

The Commanders held the No. 7 overall pick, and Tate had been projected to go at No. 7 in more mock drafts than not. But the Tennessee Titans had other plans and selected Tate with the No. 4 overall pick. It turns out, Tate didn’t know anything.

“I didn’t know I was gonna go that early,” Tate said recently on the “St. Brown Podcast” with brothers Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown. “We thought my draft started at four - No. 4 to 15 - but realistically, I thought I was gonna go 6, 7, or 8. […] I was shocked, for real. I didn’t expect to go that high. And then it happened, and I was like, ‘Damn, let’s go play ball now.'”

Brown added, “I thought Cleveland - I thought they weren’t gonna pass up on me - and then also Commanders. I think I was locked in with the Commanders. And then they were saying, ‘Oh, the Chiefs, you’re not gonna get past them; if you’re there at No. 9, they’re gonna take you.’ But I thought I was going to the Commanders.”

Before taking his first NFL snap, Tate is automatically the Titans’ No. 1 receiver and holds the development of quarterback Cam Ward in his hands. Ward, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick, believes Tate is up for the challenge.

"He'll have an explosive year just because he'll get a lot of one-on-one matchups," Ward said at OTAs in late May, per ESPN's Turron Davenport, adding, “I think this is one of the best offenses he could be in just because he’s going to get coached, but he’s not going to get overcoached, and he’s going to still be able to play football how he sees it.”

We’ll all get our first look at the Tate-Ward connection when the Titans open their 2026 season against the New York Jets on Sunday, Sept. 13.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 7:18 PM.