Chicago native, Ohio State WR Carnell Tate takes hometown lessons to the NFL as a fighter
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INDIANAPOLIS - When Carnell Tate tells you about himself, he isn’t afraid to tell you the big picture.
When asked who the best receiver is in the 2026 NFL Draft, Tate wasted no time giving himself that very title.
"Me. No questions," Tate said at the NFL Combine on Friday. "I bring it all to the table. Whatever you need to do, I got it."
Being a complete receiver isn’t easy. That includes the speed to burn safeties, the route running to create separation, the physicality to make contested catches and the violence to run block at a high level.
But, the Ohio State star receiver says he’s got the goods. He has the traits needed to be the best in the draft. Some analysts agree with him.
That confidence stems from Tate’s upbringing. The Chicago native knows that even if he’s not the best at that moment, it won’t take long until he steps out of the shadows.
He’s done that at every level of football.
The backstory:
Before Tate became a national name at Ohio State, he grew up in West Chicago. He attended Marist High School, playing one season there before transferring to IMG Academy in 2021.
As a freshman at Marist in 2019, Tate played immediately. He caught 28 passes for 444 yards and five touchdowns.
Early on, the city taught him lessons.
"It was a tough city," he said. "You had to learn how to fight and then that's all that I've been doing."
No one understands how tough the city can be like Tate. In July 2023, his mother, Ashley Griggs, was shot and killed in West Garfield Park after he arrived at Ohio State.
"I feel like my world ended," Tate told FOX Sports when he recalled the moment he learned she had passed. "My mom was everything to me. We used to talk 4-to-5 days per day. And then it felt like my world had just ended that night."
Tate fought through grief in Columbus. He played with Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. in his true freshman season, but broke out in 2024.
With Egbuka and No. 1 overall prospect Jeremiah Smith, Tate still found the ball. He fought up the depth chart and into a productive role, catching 52 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns. Tate’s biggest game came in his hometown when Ohio State played Northwestern.
Tate caught two touchdown passes against the Wildcats in a game at Wrigley Field. He ended that 2024 season with a national championship.
In his final season in Columbus, Tate hauled in 838 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He fought to claim a spot at the top of the Ohio State depth chart and kept it.
"He’s just a different style of player than Jeremiah but just as dangerous and just as good," Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said in Oct. 2025, according to the Associated Press.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 27: Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate answers questions from the media during the NFL Scouting Combine on February 27, 2026 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire
What's next:
The NFL is next for Tate. He’s a consensus top-10 selection.
A big reason for that is how he’s improved every year since his freshman season.
Ohio State had five-star recruits Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter. Neither of them could pry much playing time away from Tate, who just got better and better.
"My game grew up each and every year," Tate said Friday. "I was able to piggyback off where I left off, only to be able to improve. Like, freshman year I got on the field a little bit. Sophomore year, I got on the field a little bit more. And then third, I completely changed my game around stretching the field, contesting, catching, and my right running ability. And then, also showing up in the run game."
That has given Tate confidence.
When asked what position he prefers to line up at, he just said whichever position gives him the chance to lineup against the best on the opposite side of the field.
"I'm choosing the outside one-on-one matchup," Tate said. "Your best guy versus me."
In the eyes of NFL analysts, that ability is already impressive as it is. Some believe he plays above his years.
"He combines timing, body control and catch radius to dominate air space and consistently lands on the winning side of contested catches," NFL Network draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his evaluation in NFL.com. "Pass catching comes effortlessly with soft, strong hands and he consistently works back on throws to keep ballhawks from hawking. Tate displays rare polish for a player his age and has the talent to become a heralded pro within his first three seasons."
What’s next is a selection in the top-10 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Tate’s played himself into being the first receiver off the board. Not USC star and Biletnikoff Award winner Makai Lemon or Arizona State star Jordan Tyson.
It’s going to be Tate. The Browns, Titans and Chiefs are all teams in the top 10 who could all use a star receiver. It might be Tate, and he’s earned that status with the fight he learned growing up in Chicago.
"I got the mindset. I'm the best receiver in the draft class," Tate said. "Wherever you need me, I got it."