NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — 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.
The NFL’s highest-spending team in free agency focused on defense in March for new coach Robert 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. 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.
Tate, the first Ohio State player taken in this draft, 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.
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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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press
