Junior Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate will enter the 2026 NFL draft after his third season with the Buckeyes, according to a report from ESPN.
Nearly one week after the loss in the Cotton Bowl against Miami, Tate’s Ohio State career is now officially over, as he adds on to the history of great receivers to go through the program. It seems likely that he will also continue the streak of NFL drafts in which an Ohio State wide receiver is drafted in the first round after a great season.
He finished this campaign with 52 catches for 875 yards and nine touchdowns. His yardage and touchdown totals were both career highs despite him missing three games during the year with an injury.
Tate is projected as high as a top-10 pick in many drafts, and it would be difficult to find a mock draft in which he isn’t selected in the first round. If he is taken in the first, it would be the fifth straight year an Ohio State receiver was taken that early.
He would join Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave in the 2022 draft, Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2023, Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2024 and Emeka Egbuka last year.
A four-star pass catcher in the 2023 class, Tate finishes his Ohio State career with 121 catches for 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns.
