Carnell Tate is a wide receiver from Ohio State who is ranked No. 9 on my NFL Draft Top 100 Big Board. This comprehensive scouting report analyzes Tate’s draft potential, current mock draft trends, and where he ranks among the top prospects.
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Carnell Tate’s NFL Draft Potential
Carnell Tate entered the 2025 season as an underachieving former five-star recruit in an ancillary role to Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith. He’s now morphed into a WR1 of his own, an equally compelling force opposite Smith, and a potential WR1 candidate in the 2026 NFL Draft. It’s a testament not only to Tate’s raw talent, but also the work he’s put in to refine his game and become a truly translatable professional prospect.
In 2024, Tate racked up 52 catches for 733 yards and four touchdowns. He’s already exceeded that touchdown total in 2025, and he’s well on his way to career-best marks in every category. His PFSN CFB WRi grade of 83.2 is good for 11th-highest in the nation, he’s generating 1.13 EPA per target according to TruMedia, and he has an incredible 25.8% catch rate over expectation. Any way you slice it, Tate has reinvented his game. The numbers back it up, and the film does, too.
Tate has always had the size and length at 6’3″, 195 pounds, the explosive vertical athleticism, and the body control at the catch point. My main concerns with his 2024 film derived from his inconsistent pressing, pacing, and footwork at route stems. In 2025, he’s emerged as a true route artist and master spatial manipulator. On the vertical plane, he can use his long-strider speed, smooth hips, and angle intellect to stem defenders out of upfield attack paths, but in the short and intermediate ranges, he can win on slants, corners, comebacks, and outs with crisp tempo, throttle control, deception, and sudden feet.
Of course, Tate’s strengths have remained prevailing strengths. His catch rate over expectation is a reflection of this; he can make high-difficulty adjustments and catches with awe-inspiring focus and coordination, and he has the hand strength and composure to secure tight-window throws between contact threats. He’s not the RAC threat that Tyson and Lemon are, nor does he have Tyson’s degree of alignment versatility. Nonetheless, Tate is a WR1 candidate and a sure contender for early-to-mid first-round capital, as an X or movement-Z WR in the mold of Amani Toomer or George Pickens.
CFB Week 9 Update
Ohio State was on a bye in Week 9, but they’ll return to action in Week 10 against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Penn State secondary has its fair share of potential NFL talent — headlined by a fellow Top 100 prospect in A.J. Harris. Elliot Washington should also be a draftable CB talent when he declares, and safety Zakee Wheatley has the explosiveness, length, and physicality to make an impact at multiple levels.
With Jeremiah Smith spreading defensive attention, Tate may more often see himself lined up across from Washington or nickel DB Zion Tracy. He’s almost proved everything he needs to this year, but another strong performance against a Penn State secondary laden with NFL talent would simply be another feather in his cap.
Where Is Tate Being Selected Most Often in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator?
Tate currently holds the No. 8 overall rank among prospects, indicating his elite standing as of the most recent update. His most recent Average Draft Position (ADP) of 10.9 as of October 27 reflects that he is typically being selected in the first round.
This small gap between rank and ADP suggests he’s consistently valued among evaluators, even amid fluctuations in player evaluations at this stage of the draft cycle.
Users controlling the Cleveland Browns have been the team that selected Tate the most frequently over the past week, accounting for 2.2% of their picks across all seven rounds. Notably, 3.3% of the Cleveland Browns’ first-round selections over that same period were used on Tate, underscoring users’ strong preference for him as a potential immediate-impact wide receiver.
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Where Does Carnell Tate Rank Amongst Other NFL Draft Prospects?
Tate is currently ranked No. 9 overall in my October 2026 NFL Draft Big Board. Among WR prospects, Tate ranks 3rd at the position, trailing prospects like Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon. With a top-10 ranking, Tate is considered one of the elite prospects in the 2026 class.
Want to see how we rank all the draft prospects in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator? Check out our NFL Draft Prospect Rankings page, which includes more than 750 prospects.
