The Tennessee Titans hope Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate can team with quarterback Cam Ward and fix the offense while improving their relatively poor track record with receivers selected in the first round of the NFL draft.
The Titans made Tate the No. 4 overall selection Thursday night as the first receiver taken in this draft. That’s the highest pick the franchise has used at that position in the common draft era starting in 1967, a spot above the No. 5 overall selection that made Corey Davis the first wide receiver drafted in 2017.
“I didn’t have any idea that I was going to go this early,” Tate said.
None of the wide receivers drafted in the first round by this franchise since relocating to Tennessee in 1997 has lasted more than five seasons with the Titans.
General manager Mike Borgonzi said they saw Tate as the best receiver in this draft.
The Titans then traded into the back end of the first round to select edge rusher Keldric Faulk of Auburn at No. 31 overall to fill two big needs in one round. Borgonzi said they were really excited to add both Tate and Faulk, a defender who reminded him a bit of Arik Armstead when was coached by Robert Saleh in San Francisco.
“We thought this guy really fit the defense well,” Borgonzi said. “So we just went up and when you see a player that you like, you just go up and get him.”
Tennessee sent a trio of picks at Nos. 35, 66 and 101 to Buffalo to move into the first round along with the 69th and 165th picks.
Faulk adds another defensive player to a unit that features All-Pro tackle Jeffery Simmons along with 12 veterans added with the Titans the NFL’s highest-spending team this offseason in free agency. The 6-foot-5, 276-pound Faulk had 10 sacks and 19 1/2 tackles for loss in 32 starts.
Saleh, who will be calling the schemes after taking over a franchise coming off a 3-14 record that was their fourth straight losing season. They fired Brian Callahan six games into his second season before hiring Saleh in January.
Tennessee also has Ward, the No. 1 overall selection a year ago. Tate said, “I’m very excited for Cam Ward, being able to go out there and run routes and catch balls from him.”
The Titans only signed Wan’Dale Robinson in free agency and reworked Calvin Ridley’s contract in March to help the wide receiving group. Ridley, who turns 32 in December, has just four combined touchdown catches in two seasons in Tennessee.
Former Giants coach Brian Daboll is the Titans’ new offensive coordinator trying to rev up a unit that was one of the NFL’s worst in 2025. Even with Ward starting every game, Tennessee ranked 30th in the NFL last season with 166.1 yards a game.
The first Ohio State player taken in this draft, Tate is a 6-foot-2, 192-pound wide receiver who finished his career with 121 catches for 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns. He caught a pass in 37 of the 39 games he played. The Titans met with Tate at the NFL combine and visited Tennessee as part of his top 30 visits.
He also gives the Titans one of the most reliable receivers available in this draft based on Pro Football Focus tracking.
Tate did not drop a pass in 66 throws intended for him last season. Only four other receivers were targeted more times without a drop. In three seasons at Ohio State, Tate had a total of five drops on 161 targets.
He also is dependable in traffic. He came down with 12 of 14 balls thrown into tight coverage last season for a contested catch rate of 85.7%, best in the nation among receivers with more than five contested-catch attempts.
“That’s the one thing that really stood out to us is his ability to track the football,” said Borgonzi who noted the Titans spent a lot of time studying Tate.
Davis lasted only four seasons with the Titans not picking up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. The Titans also took Treylon Burks at No. 18 overall in 2022 as part of a trade that sent Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Brown to Philadelphia, and Burks lasted three seasons before being waived last July.
Other first-round receivers who didn’t play a sixth season with Tennessee include Kendall Wright (No. 20 in 2012) and Kenny Britt (No. 30 in 2009). Kevin Dyson, the 16th pick in 1998, is beloved for scoring the winning touchdown best known as the ” Music City Miracle” but played only five seasons with Tennessee.
The exception was Haywood Jeffires, the 20th pick in 1987 by the then-Houston Oilers. He became a three-time Pro Bowler playing with Hall of Famer Warren Moon in the run-and-shoot offense.
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