{"id":393079,"date":"2026-01-07T03:39:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393079\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T03:39:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:39:05","slug":"ohio-states-carnell-tate-reportedly-makes-key-decision-on-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393079\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio State\u2019s Carnell Tate reportedly makes key decision on 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After a heartbreaking loss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate has decided to turn the page.<\/p>\n<p>The standout playmaker declared for the 2026 NFL Draft on Monday, according to ESPN insider Pete Thamel, ending a productive three-year run with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tate is widely projected as a first-round selection and is expected to be a top-10 pick.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-3 wideout finished his Ohio State career with 121 receptions for 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns, consistently providing big-play ability in an offense headlined by star receiver Jeremiah Smith. While Smith commanded the majority of defensive attention, Tate\u2019s route-running and physicality still caught the eye of NFL evaluators.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Sources: Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate is leaving school early and declaring for the NFL Draft, where he\u2019s projected as a Top 10 overall pick in Mel Kiper\u2019s latest rankings. Tate caught 51 passes for 875 yards and nine touchdowns for the Buckeyes this year. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DvMqiLp2dD\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/DvMqiLp2dD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteThamel\/status\/2008703047783121287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>An NFL scout told <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-football\/story\/_\/id\/47531413\/sources-wr-carnell-tate-leaving-ohio-state-nfl-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ESPN<\/a> that Tate is \u201cvery smooth, fast and a good athlete,\u201d comparing him to former Pro Bowl receiver Chris Chambers, but with added size coming out of college.<\/p>\n<p>Tate\u2019s decision continues a familiar trend for Ohio State, which has produced a steady pipeline of NFL-ready wide receivers in recent years. His departure, however, leaves questions about the Buckeyes\u2019 passing game moving forward, particularly with offensive coordinator Brian Hartline leaving for South Florida.<\/p>\n<p>OSU Quarterback Julian Sayin and Smith are expected back, but Tate and Smith were the only Ohio State receivers to eclipse 300 receiving yards this season.<\/p>\n<p>Without injury or an unexpected setback, Tate is on track to hear his name called on the draft\u2019s opening night. Many project him as a top-ten pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More college football news:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                            <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a heartbreaking loss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate has decided&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-393079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}