Ohio State needs to harvest a new crop of leaders in its locker room for 2025.
Some obvious ones return from its 2024 national championship squad, like linebacker Sonny Styles or safety Caleb Downs. But with 18 starters gone from a senior-laden team, players who aren’t as accustomed to speaking up will need to this year.
In a receiver room replacing its main sage veteran in Emeka Egbuka, one upperclassman working to find his voice is the often soft-spoken junior Carnell Tate.
“I feel like I'm more comfortable (leading),” Tate said on April 8. “Usually I'm just not talking, I just let my game play, but I know sometimes you gotta be vocal to pick other guys up and it's just not always about me.”
With Egbuka off to the NFL draft as a likely first-round pick, Tate is working to ensure the ever-overflowing talent of Ohio State’s wide receiver room is matched by its leadership.
“I think he’s pulled guys aside and had one-on-one conversations with them,” offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline said on April 7. “He’s locked in. I think he saw the impact that Emeka made and the role he played, and to think that you’re gonna lose that (leadership) and be a better group, that math probably doesn’t make sense to him. So someone’s gotta step up in that role.”
Tate might have been the Buckeyes’ No. 3 wide receiver in 2024, but plenty of teams would have paid handsomely to get a No. 1 option as dynamic as the Chicago native. As much is evidenced by the fact that he was reportedly offered more than $1 million to enter the transfer portal this offseason. He collected 52 receptions for 733 yards and four touchdowns while supporting Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith.
The highlight of Tate’s sophomore campaign – outside the Buckeyes’ CFP run, anyway – was a two-touchdown outing at Wrigley Field before 30 or 40 hometown friends and family in a 31-7 win over Northwestern.
“It was very special,” Tate said. “Being back home, hometown. That was my first time playing back there since high school. So it was a lot to me, being in Chicago. And also, just getting there for my family.”
The lays out for the highlight-reel TD
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 16, 2024
Carnell Tate extends No. 2 @OhioStateFB's lead over Northwestern at Wrigley Field.#B1GFootball on Big Ten Network pic.twitter.com/kNgVa6LGZL
There are no fourth- or fifth-year players in Ohio State’s wide receiver room expected to have a role this season. Tate, projected starting slot receiver Brandon Inniss and depth piece Bryson Rodgers are the only third-year options.
“I would say Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss probably have done the most outspoken (leading) in the room,” Hartline said. “I would say that they’re doing a good job. Those are probably the two guys that would jump out in my room.”
Inniss, who played 7-on-7 football with Tate and Smith with South Florida Express, has always been a natural vocal sparkplug even when waiting his turn as Ohio State’s fourth wideout in 2024. Tate said improving his voice has been his main focus this spring.
“Being more vocal,” Tate said. “That's me coming out of my comfort zone. I'm usually just a lead-by-example guy. So being more vocal for the guys around me, being heard more.”
Tate felt significant growth in that area during spring practice.
“I've just been able to voice my opinion more, talk to the guys, pushing more guys, being the voice,” Tate said. “We lost a lot of the seniors, those were the voice of the team, so we need more guys to step up and I'm willing to do that.”
Tate added that he’s worked to improve on “all the little things” in his game this spring as he steps up a peg on Ohio State’s receiving order behind Smith. That includes his footwork and ability to win contested catches, though he already developed a reputation for some of the strongest hands on the Buckeyes’ team in 2024. That contributed to his ridiculous 77.6% catch rate, hauling in his 52 catches in just 67 targets, per Pro Football Focus. Tate only had three dropped passes all year.
Reaching such production as a sophomore in the shadow of Egbuka and Smith shows that Tate was handling his business the right way. He’s already a fantastic example for incoming freshmen like Quincy Porter. It’s just a matter of speaking up more.
“One, everyone respects him,” Hartline said. “Two, he knows he’s capable of it. And it’s just the desire and the appreciation, I think, to be at the older table now, the older head, and appreciate the way Emeka, probably, went about his business. So (Tate) probably valued that, appreciated that and he’s making sure we still have that.”
For his part, Egbuka told Eleven Warriors on Jan. 24 that he expects Tate, Smith and Inniss to live up to “every ounce of the hype” in 2025. Egbuka is leaving a leadership void as he starts his NFL career, but Tate is taking it upon himself to fill it in his own style.
“I learned everything from Emeka,” Tate said. “I learned how to approach guys, how to approach different situations and just talk to guys.”
