The Tennessee Titans used their No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft to select wide receiver Carnell Tate. Tate, who was a standout receiver at Ohio State alongside Jeremiah Smith, finished his collegiate career with 51 receptions for 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns. He played his role well, offering quarterback Julian Sayin a solid target outside Smith.
There were high expectations for Tate when he entered the league, and his lack of production this season (23 receptions for 274 yards through five games) has more to do with the Titans' offense as a whole than what Tate is actually capable of. Despite the difficult start to the season, Tate continues to show up, run routes, and catch passes.
Recently, Titans Wire sat down with Tate to discuss
a few things, and one thing we asked was how he mentally prepares for games.
“I feel like it all comes down to preparation throughout the week," Tate said. "Watching film, getting my reps in, and making sure I’m ready for whatever comes my way. Before the game, I like listening to music and getting in my zone. Once it’s time to play, I just trust the work I’ve put in and go out there and do my job.”
Tate has spent years putting the work in for football, and he should trust what he's done to be enough. There have been some shaky moments, but he has done enough to show the league what his potential is in the NFL. Part of that potential includes discipline. If you watched Tate at Ohio State, you know he's the ultimate role player. He doesn't demand the ball; he does whatever the offense requires of him, so we asked him what lesson in discipline and patience has stuck with him the most.
“Just understanding that everything takes time and you have to put the work in," Tate says. "Nothing is going to be handed to you, so you have to stay patient and trust the process. I’ve learned that consistency is everything. You have to keep showing up, keep getting better, and when your opportunity comes, make the most of it.”
Speaking of opportunities, Tate was a Brand Ambassador for SNICKERS Ice Cream during the draft, and has also been a Brand Ambassador for Adidas since March. Recently, SNICKERS and Adidas collaborated on a new fit for Tate, which he debuted in his Week 5 tunnel entrance.
"I love this collab," Tate said when we asked about his role. "I’m a big Snickers fan, and it’s been my favorite candy since I was a kid. This is the first time these iconic brands have partnered together to release a custom Snickers cleat. Love the timing around Halloween – there’s even some ghoulish green inside the cleat!"
“I wore a custom Adidas x Snickers fit before the game on October 11 that Snickers is going to give away to 1 lucky fan," Tate added. "Be sure to follow Snickers on social for the chance to win!”
Outside of football and sponsorships, Tate said that he wants "to continue making an impact off the field. Being someone that younger kids can look up to and giving back whenever I can. I know how much it means to have people supporting you and believing in you, so I want to be able to do that for others.”
Anyone who has gotten to this level knows they didn't get there alone. Tate had players and people he looked up to and relied on to support and guide him through his journey. Now, he wants to be the guy that another kid looks up to and believes in. But we can't forget that, at 21 years old, Tate is still a kid, too. He's going to do a lot of growing and changing over the next few years.
To remind us he's still a kid at heart, Tate says, “I’m really into Legos. I’ve built some pretty big sets, like the five-foot Eiffel Tower, and I just completed the Titanic set too. It’s something I enjoy doing in my free time when I’m away from football. It helps me relax and take my mind off things.”
It's not surprising that a wide receiver who relies on eye-hand coordination to make a living every week also uses eye-hand coordination to calm his brain down when he's not on the field. It's a different mechanism, but putting together small blocks in a precise manner to come away with a big-picture object is exactly what he does every week on the field. He takes the pieces he's learned over the years and combines them into a bigger picture with every play he runs on the field, similar to placing the tiny pieces of a LEGO set in a specific order to make a giant masterpiece.
With LEGOs, as on a football team, each piece has its role, and if it's in the wrong spot, everything changes. If a LEGO is in the wrong spot, the whole project has to be reassessed and fixed before it can be completed. Tate knows this better than anyone, and he uses it to make sure he's in the right spot on the field every week.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Tennessee Titans WR Carnell Tate: 'Consistency is everything'
