As they prepare to square off with the Bears tonight, Tennessee put an end to the growing narrative around rookie top-five pick Carnell Tate.
The franchise is still all-in on the rookie receiver, despite what the stat sheet says.
After setting practice fields on fire during spring OTAs and early camp drills, Tate hit a sudden wall—going catchless across his last two preseason games even after playing 35 snaps with the starting offense. He even struggled to find room to breathe in joint practice sessions.
In fact, per PFF, Tate has the lowest completion percentage of anyone with a minimum of five targets this preseason: 0%, for those keeping track at home.
Regardless of the slow start, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll believes Tate will be a top offensive playmaker this season.
“I have a great amount of confidence in Tate and how he goes about his business, what he does on the practice field,” offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Turron Davenport.
“Look, I think everybody would love to have 15 catches. But he’s doing the right stuff. He’s in a good headspace. He’s where he’s supposed to be.”
When you hand $33 million in guaranteed money to a top-five pick, a stat-sheet blank in August is hardly going to cause panic in the Tennessee front office.
Titans’ Carnell Tate Gets Real About His Slow Performance so Far
Tate carried a rather optimistic attitude coming out of his preseason slump as well, not letting a couple of bad days frustrate him.
“Not every day is going to be your best day and not every game is going to be your best game,” Tate said, per Davenport.
“I’m just staying levelheaded, going out to compete each and every day. You just got to know how to play with emotion, not let emotion play with you. That’s the biggest thing. I just stay calm. Don’t get too high. Don’t get too low.”
Tate’s quiet preseason stat line isn’t his lack of talent, either. It’s simply because Tennessee’s offense hasn’t prioritized opening up target share for him this early, as On SI’s Lane Mills explains.
“Tennessee simply isn’t scheming to get Tate open right now. Say what you will about his route-running or targets, but Robert Saleh himself isn’t concerned with Tate because of the play-calling not being engineered to him.”
Tate Finally Gets Much-Needed Late Camp Surge
“When it’s time to scheme, we’ll get guys the rock,” head coach Robert Saleh said when asked about tailoring the offense for Tate.
That time may have already arrived. After going catchless across joint practice sessions with the Seahawks, Tate finally delivered the practice breakout he’d been searching for over the last two weeks.
Facing the Chicago Bears on Thursday, the rookie hauled in seven of his 12 targets from Cam Ward, capping off the day with two touchdown catches.
Ward left no doubt that the top pick is primed for big things in 2026.
“He wants the ball,” Ward said. “So when it comes his way, he’s urgent to it. He goes up and high-points it. He’s been great, and he may not have the splash plays as of late, but he’s going to be a key reason why we have success on offense. No. 14 is going to be a playmaker, for sure.”
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