They tore the helmet off his head, but they couldn’t get the ball out of his hands. Two Wisconsin defenders could not stop Carnell Tate, who stood up and screamed in the end zone after catching a 33-yard touchdown pass to start Ohio State’s 34-0 rout of the Badgers last October.
It was a touchdown that, technically, Tate shouldn’t have scored.
It should’ve been fellow OSU receiver Brandon Inniss’ TD. And yet when Inniss went down with an injury, then-Buckeyes offensive coordinator Brian Hartline did not hesitate to move Tate into the slot — just for one play — to make sure the execution was perfect. And that’s a testament to Tate, not just because the execution was perfect, but also because …
“He never practiced that play,” Hartline, now the head coach at South Florida, told me earlier this month. “He may have seen it in practice, and he saw the other guys do it. But then you put him in the game and competitive excellence. The ball goes his way. He makes a huge play. So that’s him as a player. He’s always reliable to be put in the big spots.”
Tate played in the slot during his freshman year in 2023, seizing an opportunity to get on the field after star receiver Emeka Egbuka suffered an injury. But since that point, Tate has been a perimeter receiver, which was why he hadn’t practiced that play prior to scoring the touchdown.
“Coach [Ryan] Day was like, ‘Hey, what can we do? Brandon’s down. The place do you set who?’” Hartline recalled. “And I simply mentioned, ‘Pay attention, put Carnell within the slot. He’ll know tips on how to do it. He’ll do a fantastic job on the route. We’re good. Stick with the decision.’ … We received a protection that was good for us, and he went up and made an enormous play over some defenders for a landing.”
Tate is ready for large spots — even when he shouldn’t be.
That’s one among many constructive qualities the crew that drafts the 6-foot-2, 192-pound receiver will get. However whichever crew needs him probably the most, it’s going to absolutely need to be choosing in one of many prime 10 spots on Thursday night time.
“I do all of it,” Tate informed me in Portland on the Adidas “Professional Day” in March. “I run [routes], I block and I catch the ball. I run routes to get open on the highest stage. I make contested catches, make good catches over the center, and I am going over prime of individuals. Additionally, I add to the run sport as properly. I can influence the sport with or with out the ball.”
Carnell Tate celebrates after a landing towards Michigan final November. (Picture by Luke Hales/Getty Photographs)
Is he the most effective receiver on this 12 months’s draft?
“Yessir. Little doubt,” Tate informed me.
No hesitation in anyway.
“I feel it’s due to these issues [I just mentioned] and likewise due to extra of that,” he added. “I really feel like I am probably the most clever receiver on the market as properly.”
Although Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson is rising as doubtlessly the No. 1 receiver on this 12 months’s class, it’s not all that controversial for Tate to stake his declare. And it is no shock who Hartline is backing, calling Tate “by far the most effective receiver on this draft.”
Satirically, Tate wasn’t the WR1 at any level throughout his Buckeyes profession. Ohio State bestowed that honor to Jeremiah Smith in 2025 and in 2024 and to Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2023. Egbuka was additionally firmly within the combine with greater than 1,000 receiving yards in 2022 and 2024.
“[Tate] actually needed to be the man. All the blokes do,” Hartline informed me. “When you’ve numerous guys in these rooms, typically it actually makes you a greater participant whenever you perceive the entire philosophy and the place the ball goes. However I feel he grew a ton as an individual.”
You may see the best way Tate progressed just by trying on the uncooked counting stats. He jumped from 18 catches, 264 yards and one landing in 2023 to 52 catches for 733 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2024. Then in 2025, he had 51 catches for 875 yards and 9 touchdowns. It’s not staggering manufacturing. However his teammates by no means took him with no consideration.
“He’s a big-time receiver who’s gonna make an enormous play every single day,” Ohio State All-American edge Arvell Reese informed me.
Tate’s draft prospects are a reminder of simply how spectacular he was in faculty — regardless of by no means being the highest goal. At Ohio State, that made for powerful conversations when he battled to rise even right into a WR3 spot in his sophomore 12 months. Hartline and Tate spoke typically about tips on how to make all of it work.
“I feel that there is numerous honesty. … I am not gonna mislead the blokes. And so if I inform you you are on observe, and also you simply belief me on it, then that is the case,” Hartline informed me when requested how he managed Tate’s expectations. “I need everybody to have all the pieces, as a result of then there isn’t any arduous conversations. However finally, he was on tempo. Hold trusting the method and the remaining will deal with itself.”
He added: “Occurs on a regular basis, proper?”
To not everybody.
It’s largely true for the Ohio State locker room, which is an enormous purpose why Hartline is ready to start out his first season as the top coach for USF. Earlier than Smith, Tate, Egbuka and Harrison Jr., there was Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave. Hartline has continued to provide elite pass-catchers, with Tate showing to be subsequent in line.
This OSU meeting line has created a pro-ready mentality. Not solely will these gamers sharpen one another’s abilities off the sphere, however they’ll have the self-assurance and self-discipline to combat their technique to the highest of a pro-caliber depth chart.
“They’re surrounding themselves with nice gamers, and though irritating, it will be irritating within the league too. Higher prepare for it,” Hartline mentioned. “So understanding that, we all the time need extra [production], however that is not how this works. They do a very good job at our job description on every particular person play.”
Whether or not Tate lands in Cleveland, Kansas Metropolis or any of the opposite top-10 slots, he’ll need to beat out powerful competitors for a prime beginning spot. However there’s little doubt he’ll do exactly that. He’ll do what it takes to make an influence, even when meaning leaping right into a place he is by no means practiced — and on the play that issues most.
