“Who’s the best receiver in this draft class?”
That was the question floated to former Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday. His answer contained just three words.
“Me. No question,” Tate said.
A follow-up “Why?” from the black-suit-clad reporter standing before Tate prompted a simple elaboration.
“I bring it all to the table. Whatever you need to do, I got it.”
Tate is riding into his professional career with warranted confidence after emerging as one of the nation’s top wideouts in his junior year at Ohio State, and as a projected top-10 pick in the 2026 NFL draft, he’s eager to continue the Buckeyes’ legacy as Wide Receiver U.
“It means a lot to me,” Tate said. “It's also a lot on your shoulders now. You've got to be the next one to come out there and put on for the school and carry the receiver U (title).”
Tate emphasized the complete nature of his game repeatedly throughout his 12-minute interview in Indianapolis. Turning on the tape and looking at his production, he makes a strong case for the best and most complete wide receiver in his draft class.
Stepping from Ohio State’s No. 3 to its No. 2 wide receiver in 2025, Tate racked up 51 receptions for 875 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 games. He emerged as an explosive deep threat with excellent speed, route running, body control and hands. The ease of his toe-tapping sideline catches was a sight to behold.
Tate’s most impressive catch in 2025 is up there with the greatest snags by Buckeyes in the past decade, when he leapt over two Wisconsin defenders for an acrobatic, tumbling X-yard touchdown grab in Madison.
Ohio State WR Carnell Tate (Rd 1):
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) December 24, 2025
+ 63 with large catch radius
+ Deep speed
+ Stellar ball skills
+ Body control
+ Physicality at catch point
+ Exploiting leverage through his stems
- Tougher to sink his hips into his breaks
- Never been WR1 at OSU pic.twitter.com/GZ9iKAY5w4
“He's a silky smooth receiver,” former Ohio State safety Caleb Downs said. “His routes are great. He actually is a very good blocker, too. He adds a lot to our offense. I'm excited to see what he does at the next level.”
Tate also has experience in an NFL-caliber wide receiver room at Ohio State. All three of the Buckeyes’ starters in 2024, Tate’s second year with the Buckeyes, will almost certainly be first-round draft picks. Emeka Egbuka went 19th overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025, Tate is likely to be a first-round and Jeremiah Smith could be a top-three pick in 2027.
“The competition there, we're all pushing to be the best receiver on the field that day and that practice,” Tate said. “And typically, when you're the best receiver at Ohio State, you're the best receiver in the country. So we all got high expectations for each other, always pushing each other to do better.”
The NFL draft will also be an incredible conclusion to Tate’s journey through the ranks of high school and college football. Coming from rough circumstances in Chicago, he had to “learn how to fight” – his words – to make it in life as he has.
Tate lost his mother, Ashley Griggs, in July 2023 to a drive-by shooting. A freshman at the time, it’s a tragedy that could have spiraled anyone.
"She was my rock," Tate said on an episode of Big Ten Network’s “The Journey” in November 2024. "She was like my best friend, mom, and everything, all in one."
Both through football and positive off-field activities, Tate worked through his grief to reach the precipice of a goal every college football player sets out to achieve, though very few do: Hearing his name called in the first round of the NFL draft.
“It would mean everything to me,” Tate said. “Us up here (at the combine), this is our dream. This is all we ever wanted. This is all we ever dreamed of. This is all we ever pictured.”
Tate feels Ohio State played a major role in shaping him into the player and person he is today.
“I'd say they made me a better man off the field and then a better player on the field,” Tate said. “They taught me real-life lessons off the field, how to be there for one another. They improved my game everywhere. Like I said, my route-running ability and my contested catch really went to the next level this past year.”
Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson is the top competition with Tate to be the first receiver taken in the 2026 NFL draft. Tyson possesses an eye-popping athletic profile, standing 6-foot-2 with great speed and agility. He had 75 receptions for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024, and though he played just nine games in 2025, he collected 61 catches for 711 yards and eight scores.
USC’s Makai Lemon, Washington’s Denzel Boston and Texas A&M's KC Concepcion are also projected as first-round picks at wide receiver. But Tate’s confident that he’s the most complete package of the bunch.
“Mindset, the catching, the route running, the blocking,” Tate said. “I've got the mindset that I'm the best receiver in the draft class. I've got the route running. I'm able to manipulate DBs. I've got the catching. I can contested catch over DBs. I make great catches. I've got the field awareness. I've got a couple of sideline grabs. I also showed up in the blocking game, blocking D-ends, corners, whatever you need.”
Becoming the first receiver taken in this year’s draft would be an incredible next step in Tate’s journey. As for the first round? That’s a near-lock, and already exceptional.
