There has been a heated receiver battle beneath the surface of Carnell Tate's highlight start at Tennessee Titans
OTA practices. Now, it's on full display, and it's only going to get more fun to watch.
The Tennessee Titans
wide receiver room has gone through a complete overhaul the past two seasons from one of, if not the worst in the NFL, to one with legitimate high upside and depth. Carnell Tate being selected fourth overall in the 2026 NFL Draft had a lot to do with that.
However, it's not just about Tate. He's been phenomenal when we've seen him at Vanderbilt Health Football Center. Wan'Dale Robinson
followed his former New York Giants
head coach, now Titans offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll to Tennessee in free agency.
Those two new high-value additions joined the main core of the group rolling over from 2025 to Robert Saleh's new team in 2026: veteran Calvin Ridley
, and two second year fourth round picks Chim Dike and Elic Ayomanor
.
Five wide receivers who we feel are locks to be on the Titans roster
and who we feel to be the main targets for second year quarterback Cam Ward
this season. But, there has been a really exciting receiver battle buried beneath the surface.
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Who wins the WR6 spot: Bryce Oliver
vs K.J. Osborn
The winner of this battle is going to be a survivor of a great fight. Oliver and Osborn both have the talent to stick on the roster and have an NFL resume to prove it.
Albeit, in very different roles.
Oliver is entering his third season with the Titans after going undrafted out of Youngstown State where he was a 1,000 yard receiver in his final year with the Penguins. He carved out a solid reputation with John Bones Fassell as a core special teams player, giving him instant game day value for a player who had an uphill battle to crack the rotation on offense.
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Osborn was a sneaky free agency addition who is benefiting from Ridley being held out (for an undisclosed reason) from team periods (11 on 11 and 7 on 7) in OTA practices. It looks like Osborn has the nod in Ridley's spot, especially when Ayomanor and Dike had some off days in late May.
During a three seasons stretch in Minnesota
between 2021-2023, Osborn had 158 catches, 1,845 yards, and five touchdowns with the Vikings. He's only played in eight total games the last two years.
Tate misses Tuesday June 9 OTA practice to put WR6 battle on full display
Carnell Tate got dinged up (nothing to be worried about) at the end of Monday's OTA practice, opening the door to free reps to end that practice and all of Tuesday.
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While Dike had three touchdowns on the day, and Ayomanor made his presence felt the strongest at this point in the offseason, Oliver and Osborn also traded play making.
First, going back to end Monday's practice, Oliver made a sweet toe-tap TD catch in the red zone period from Mitch Trubisky
. Osborn had three catches in Tuesday's practice, and was in the rotation with the punt returners
. Tate going out late Monday and all of Tuesday is not the only time we've seen these two players do well with their opportunities.
The Titans could be in a spot where they need to keep seven receivers on the active roster. That would cut a depth spot, obviously, from another position (running back, tight end, linebacker, defensive back are the usual suspects). That's before involving Xavier Restrepo
, who has looked impressive in this new Daboll offense early.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: New Titans WR battle unlocked on full display with Carnell Tate, Calvin Ridley limited in recent OTA practices
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