Simms' WR draft rankings: No. 4 Carnell Tate
Chris Simms breaks down why Ohio State's Carnell Tate is a fluid receiver but doesn't have the explosive ability that makes him "jump off the screen."
Video Transcript
But tier two has one more player in it, wide receiver number four finally.
Yeah.
Carnell Tate, Ohio State.
There it is.
Yeah.
Ohio State, I mean, this is, this is a, a really smooth, long receiver, right?
I mean- really fluid mover.
One of the more fluid movers as far as just talking about loose hips and coming out of breaks really nice that way.
I mean, all of that is top-notch, and then you could see he knows how to run routes and has the right body language, right, to, to be quarterback-friendly.
I mean, that's the thing I kept coming back to, is his smoothness and, you know, again, his ability to run really good routes.
I think all of that's there.
Just like we kinda talked about with Denzel Boston, you know, I know he didn't get to show all of this stuff maybe at Ohio State, but I think he's a guy that, yeah, can beat you downfield and do some of that stuff, but I also think he could be a guy that, you know, "We're gonna run the shallow cross, but then I'm gonna put the brakes on and come back out," and do some of that.
I think his route running leads to that.
Now, the reason he's number four is because, yeah, explosively he does not jump off the screen com- to me compared to the other guys.
I gotta say, when I first turned it on, I was a little bit like, again, I've been sold he's the number five pick maybe to the New York Giants and stuff of that.
Yeah.
So I've heard that.
I think he will be the fir- he's the guy I was talking about at the top.
He, he might be.
I- If I've done my job the way I'm supposed to, he, he's the guy that should go as the first receiver.
I don't view him the same way though, I agree.
I don't either.
Right.
It's like- I like him well, he's warm and cozy again.
Yes.
That's right this is what we're talking about.
That's right.
We've seen him.
He's played big game football.
You know he's been coached.
There's really no weakness, but I would also say I don't know if there's any glaring elite trait from him either.
That would be the thing I would say.
I don't think in the NFL he's gonna be a guy that you can just line up and go, "Oh, run by people out there," like he did at Ohio State.
And let's not forget, Ohio State, I mean, the, the, this is where we have to have a bigger conversation, and maybe we do that for the next pod.
Right.
It's just some of these teams and these offenses lead to just such perfect circumstances for the receiver, where I wanna go, "Listen, if we put some of these other guys here in Ohio State next to Jeremiah Smith, and defenses having to worry about Bo Jackson and everything else," like some of the looks you'd be like, "Oh my crap, he's awesome.
He's wide open down the middle of the field."
So that's the hard part about this.
But, you know, he is NFL-ready.
I think that's the big thing.
But yeah, when I looked at his 4.53 40 and his 1-6, 1-10, I w- I think that's pretty true to form.
I think- Right that's what it looked like to me.
And you get into, again, the screen game.
I th- context clues are important to me.
All the other guys we watch, they go, "Here's a screen.
Go get us seven.
Here's a screen.
Go get us 10.
Here's a screen," we're gonna talk about somebody after this, "Go get us 60."
Okay?
Yeah.
With Carnell Tate, they were like, "Let's throw a screen to everybody else except for him."
And that to me does say a little something.
All right?
I know they have Jeremiah Smith, they had the other kid, number one, and everything there, but still, usually with a guy that's considered a top 10 pick, you throw him screens and let him go do his thing.
And I think the fact that they didn't do that a whole lot kinda tells you something there as well.
Really good player, but not the guy that's gonna always make the first guy miss and just run away from people, you know, after the catch or on a screen pass like I'm talking about here.
Yeah.
In 2025, only seven screen targets for the top receivers you're looking at.
That's low, right?
That's insanely low.
Exactly.
That's what I'm saying.
I mean, you'll evaluate a guy that'll have 120 targets and 43 of them will be screens in college.
Ah.
Right.
Which I try to, like, filter them out and then watch what they can do.
Mm-hmm.
But they- you're right, they just didn't, they just didn't do that for Carnell Tate.
It's not a part of his game.
I like that you said, did you say warm and fuzzy at the top?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like cozy?
Yeah.
Right.
Great kid.
really detailed in everything he does.
Exactly right.
Good bo- like lean, like tall and lean.
Got the look.
Exactly, yes.
Yes.
Well, it's just so hard to envision a world where Carnell Tate's not a really solid number two receiver, but w- I think he's gonna go in the top 10, and then you're, you're trying to chew for more.
Yeah.
Like, he's, he's could be the number one.
And maybe not.
Maybe the Giants want a number two receiver.
Maybe the Saints want a number two receiver.
You need a number two.
We've talked about that.
Right.
It, it, it is.
You know, I, one of the things I wrote, I just, I, I wrote I don't think he's a top five or top 10 pick from pure talent and explosiveness in that way.
And again, you know, I think guys you can look at that I would say are similar a little, Rome Odunze.
Rome Odunze's really good, but again, I would sit here to this, this day right now and still go, "I don't think he was worth the where he got picked."
Right.
He's a good player, no doubt.
And I think part of the conversation, and we're seeing this a little bit more in the first round lately, is high floor character, right?
And that's what to your point, I think you're spot on, is like Carnell Tate's floor is like, "Hey, he's our really good number two."
Right.
He didn't work out being the superstar one.
He's our number two, and we'll go off that.
And then of course, yes, because of his route running and his size, there is a lot you can do with him that way.
But I don't think it's gonna be post for 60-yard bombs and stuff like that that we saw at Ohio State happening on the regular in the NFL.
Dr. Ganja said Ohio State is a factory for these types of wide receivers.
Yeah.
They're, they're I mean, Brian Hartline has done an incredible job.
They've done an incredible job recruiting, and then they're pro ready.
And he- Right they teach them how to run routes the right way, and that's where they've all been really good.
But that's also where I would tell you, I think they've almost, for the most part, all been a little overrated.
Just a little.
And not all of them.
Besides JSN.
I know JSN.
Yes.
Emeka Egbuka, certainly not.
Sure.
But, like, was Olave a little overrated to me?
Yes, to this day.
Garrett Wilson, you know my thoughts there.
Yes, to this day.
Still really awesome.
I'm not trying to not say that.
Well, Marv would probably be the, the number 1.2 at the time.
Marvin Harrison won the number one.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
So exactly, that's, that's sort of I'm s- And then, you know, this is gets into our quarterback conversation sometimes when we talk about, like, d- you're drafting the team a little bit and you're, you know- Yeah you're drafting the emblem and, and that part being warm and cozy.
but yeah, his YAC is underwhelming.
I mean, his YAC, for a guy that I'm being like, "Whoa, he's the number five pick to the Giants," I'm going, "Wait, he catches balls.
He doesn't make a whole lot happen after the catch."
Every now and then, the Red Sea parts and then he does something there, right?
But it goes back to the screen, you get him in space, and it's just not wow like the other guys we have talked about to this point.
but when he opens up, he covers a lot of ground.
and when he gets downfield, he can chew it up.
I don't, let me see, just see what I was gonna write at the end.
yeah, great body control, stick foot in the ground, really good in and out of breaks, great hands, very good.
I, I wrote 20 to 32.
That's where I see it.
But I understand that the league looks at him in a higher way than, than I do.
Yeah.
And, you know.
Giants, Browns, Saints is what I've consistently heard.
Yeah.
Giants- Browns, Saints.
Yeah which is five- I, I got that six, eight?
Hey, and, and maybe he- That's early.
It is.
Maybe he can tu- turn into Davante Adams.
Good.
Maybe he could be that.
He does have feet.
He does have good releases.
Maybe he turns into that, and s- then Chris Simms says, "Shut," you know- "Shut, I didn't, shut the hell up."
But yeah, for right now, Carnell Tate's my number four receiver.
I mean, everything you said, though, is backed by the numbers too.
Like, wide receiver analytics, you need to be careful, but yards after catch per reception was four and a half.
Yeah.
That's 24th percentile in the country.
Yeah.
You wouldn't expect that.
So he's, he's- And then with this- in the bottom 25%.
And then they're paying attention to the other receiver more on the other side of the field, and there's a lot of space there.
Sure.
Right.
Yeah.
You know?
And that's, that's where I look at it, and that to me was one of the more underwhelming things and where I would've gone, "Oh my gosh," like, if Chris, if, if Brazzell caught the ball here, or if Jordan Tyson had this kind of What would've happened after the catch?
Or the guy we're gonna talk about after the break here, we'll discuss him.
He's one of those guys too.
So yeah, Carnell Tate, awesome.
He's gonna work.
He's a first rounder, I know that.
I just think it's le- ranked a little bit higher than I like.
