Carnell Tate Is Ready To Catch On As No. 1 Target For The Tennessee Titans

How many times did we see Cam Ward run halfway to Memphis waiting for someone—ANYONE—to get open? Too many times. That should not be a problem in 2026, not with the key additions of Ohio State stud WR Carnell Tate and crafty vet Wan'Dale Robinson joining the Titans this offseason. Could Ward support both on the way to fantasy football prominence. Ian Hartitz examines all the pass catchers in his Tennessee Titans Team Preview.

Who is the best click at cost inside this sneaky-solid WR room?

WR1: Carnell Tate (WR30 in Fantasy Life ranks)
WR2: Wan'Dale Robinson (WR49)
WR3: Calvin Ridley (WR69)
WR4: Elic Ayomanor
WR5: Chimere Dike
WR6: Bryce Oliver

Well, No. 4 overall pick Carnell Tate is the favorite to lead the way. And why not? There's a LOT to like about the latest first-round Buckeye. I highlighted the following three strengths from Tate's game in my pre-draft breakdown on him:

Contested-catch artist: Tate caught 12 of 14 contested targets (85.7%!) in 2025. Only two Power Four WRs have bested that mark since 2019 with a minimum of 10 contested targets: 2019 Justin Jefferson (12/13, 92.3%) and 2021 Jaxon Smith-Njigba (9/10, 90%). Pretty great company! But, yeah: Tate's combination of strong hands, body control and leaping ability make him a nightmare to defend at the catch point.

Smoothness is Olave-esque: While Tate won't be confused with an elite YAC producer, he wasn't exactly asked to operate in the underneath areas of the field very often, and there were plenty of flashes of him gliding past defenders in the open field either way. Independent of Tate's ability after the catch: His smoothness getting in and out of breaks is very impressive for a taller outside receiver.

Vertical route-running is borderline erotic: This is the main selling point here: Tate's superpower is winning down the field. Much was made of Tate's relatively disappointing 4.53-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine; just realize it takes far more than just pure speed to consistently win on the outside. Just look at the NFL track record from the fastest players the position has to offer. It was rare to see defensive backs stand a chance against Tate's smooth and explosive vertical stems—and good luck winning the jump ball on the few occasions where immense separation wasn't created.

109 seconds of Carnell Tate winning downfield pic.twitter.com/atVWDcMbYN
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) March 11, 2026

And then there's Wan'Dale Robinson, who earned 140 targets in back-to-back seasons with Brian Daboll in New York. Kudos to the pint-sized (5-foot-8, 178 pounds) slot maven for making some meaningful improvements in yards per reception (7.5 vs. 11) and yards per target (5 vs. 7.2) from 2024 to 2025. The film didn't make me want to claw my eyes out this time around.

The argument for clicking Robinson comes down to the reality that he's pretty easily the cheapest receiver who posted a top-15 finish in PPR points per game last season.

The top-15 wide receivers in fantasy PPR points per game last season and where their early ADP is ahead of 2026 pic.twitter.com/BCQdRgi6NL
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) June 27, 2026

The argument against the 25-year-old talent is that he benefited mightily from Malik Nabers missing most of last season, and the true high-end ceiling feels a bit underwhelming considering the man has only managed to score nine touchdowns in 54 career games.

Ultimately, I've had a hard time clicking either receiver in early drafts. Tate is very much in play as a top-3 rookie pick, but I've preferred guys like DJ Moore and Christian Watson in likely far better offenses at a similar price tag. A similar sentiment is true for Robinson vs. guys like Matthew Golden and Ricky Pearsall, although Wan'Dale's WR50 ADP is admittedly VERY cheap for someone who has earned 140+ targets in back-to-back seasons. He's someone I will at least make a modest effort to draft a bit more the rest of the offseason—particularly in full-PPR formats.

Also note: I was one of the dummies drafting a lot of Calvin Ridley this time last year due to the potential for the veteran to get fed oodles of targets as the passing game's only show in town. His 5-131-0 performance in Week 5 showed that Unc still had some decent route-running chops, but unfortunately, his season would be derailed by a pulled hamstring in Week 6 and a broken fibula in Week 11. The 31-year-old is back again in 2026, although this time around he projects as the No. 3 pass-game option. I've generally been clicking Jerry Jeudy as my LATE-round wide receiver dart over Ridley thanks to the former receiver's youth and heightened potential to still work as his offense's No. 1 target … Elic Ayomanor really annoys me because google docs constantly auto-corrects his name to "Epic" and his rookie season was anything but. Sure, the 2025 fourth-rounder found himself on the other end of a few incredible Cam Ward throws, but man: We're talking about a guy who ranked 71st among 78 qualified receivers in yards per target last season. … The NFL's last six leaders in all-purpose yards: Derrick Henry, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley … and Chimere Dike. Does Dike's return-game excellence mean he's worth a late-round pick in fantasy drafts? Absolutely not, but hey, shoutout to the fourth-rounder for making the most of his opportunities as a rookie.

Is Gunnar Helm what late-round tight end dreams are made of?

TE1: Gunnar Helm (TE29 in Fantasy Life ranks)
TE2: Daniel Bellinger
TE3: Kylen Granson

Maybe! Let's break it down…

Bull case: Helm builds on his enticing rookie season per-route efficiency numbers and winds up working as Cam Ward's primary red-zone threat.
Bear case: Brian Daboll's BFF Daniel Bellinger limits Helm's full-time role, leading to him working as the No. 4 pass-game option in a passing game that (again) isn't very good.

We're talking LATE-round tight ends at this point—Helm is currently going at the Round 15-16 turn in early drafts—but the Texas product does deserve credit for making the most out of his opportunities in Year 1. This is some good company!

And yet, a full-time role is far from guaranteed in a new offense that also figures to predominantly flow through its top-3 receivers. It's tough to really paint the picture of a top-6-level breakout here, and while Helm's TE25 (pick 180) ADP is accordingly super cheap, I've usually thrown my LATE-round darts at the position in the direction of potential No. 1 Dolphins target Greg Dulcich and hopeful ascending Year 2 Rams TE Terrance Ferguson.