Carnell Tate has been a non-factor in the Tennessee Titans' first two preseason games, and now's the time to question what that means.
The Titans invested in Tate with the No. 4 pick in April's NFL draft, making him one of the highest picked wide receivers in modern NFL history. And Tate really seemed to be living up to his draft slot through OTAs, minicamp and the first couple weeks of training camp, establishing himself as QB Cam Ward's best intermediate and long ball target.
Then the last two weeks came. Tate didn't do much of anything to stand out in joint practice against the 49ers, then was held without a catch in three series of the corresponding preseason opener. The Titans returned home and Tate missed time with some minor stiffness.
He was back for a joint practice with the Seahawks where he didn't catch any passes, and then followed that with another no-catch game in three series at Nissan Stadium on Aug. 23.
"I’ll tell you: If this is adversity he hasn’t seen anything yet. This is, I don’t think he’s really seeing adversity," Titans coach Robert Saleh said on Aug. 24 after reviewing the tape from the previous night. "I think he’s doing a really good job on his day-to-day process. I get that the preseason games haven’t lit the world on fire, but what we’ve been seeing in practice is a pretty damn good football player. We’ll continue developing him. We’ll continue working with him. And hopefully everything translates once the season starts."
Tate wasn't in the locker room postgame to discuss his recent lull, so he hasn't given his perspective yet. As Saleh pointed out postgame, OC Brian Daboll isn't doing much of anything to scheme players open, so the vanilla scheme being showcased isn't doing any favors. And Seattle's defensive scheme has a knack for forcing throws underneath, limiting what Tate can do as a more natural downfield threat.
Still, zero catches on five targets seems eye-popping compared to the hype Tate generated upon arriving in Nashville. Maybe it shouldn't, though.
The last 10 receivers drafted in the top 10 before Tate are: Travis Hunter, Tetairoa McMillan, Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze, Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Ja'Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith. Across 31 combined pro seasons, they've already put up 17 campaigns with 1,000 or more receiving yards. Not a bad group to be compared against. And in their collective first two preseason games as rookies, these 10 players averaged... 1.05 catches per game.
Chase only caught one ball on four targets. London only caught one pass on one target. McMillan, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, caught two passes on seven targets.
None of this changes the fact that Tate's got a goose egg next to his name. Nor does any of it necessarily mean that Tate's due for a breakout rookie year. But it is proof at the very least that a slow start to a rookie preseason doesn't have to portend doom.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: There's context, good and bad, behind Carnell Tate's ghostly preseason start
