'Competitive Advantage' Carnell Tate Ready To Play Some Ball

Only four Ohio State wide receivers have had more receptions as true freshmen than Carnell Tate’s 18 catches last year in his first year with the Buckeyes.

It’s a who’s who list of Buckeye greats — Cris Carter (41), David Boston (33), Garrett Wilson (30), and Ted Ginn, Jr. (25). That’s one Pro Football Hall of Famer and three first-round draft picks. It’s pretty good company.

The company is so good that Tate’s upcoming sophomore season should be receiving more attention. He has been a standout in fall camp, but there are so many interesting topics surrounding this team that his name doesn’t come up nearly as much as it should.

Does he feel like he’s not getting his due attention?

“No, I don’t feel like I’m being slept on,” Tate said last week. “When the game’s on, they’re gonna game plan for me as well. I let the media talk and I just play ball.”

He’s right about that, of course. No defensive coordinator is going to game plan around a Google search. Last year’s game film will show a freshman receiver who was very advanced for his age. This year’s film will show more.

“I’m better everywhere,” Tate said. “I’ve been in the slot, been on the outside, as you guys can see. I’m better everywhere. My routes got better. I got faster, I got bigger, I got stronger. So I’m better everywhere and I feel good.”

Carnell Tate is a 6-foot-3 receiver who can play any of OSU’s three receiver positions, and play each of them effectively well. He got a crash course last year as a true freshman but never actually ever crashed.

Now a sophomore readying for a starting role, the expectations from within the football program are extremely high, even if the attention from outside the program isn’t.

“We can play Carnell anywhere,” OSU receivers coach Brian Hartline said. “I think his ability to learn an offense, the intricate details, throw him in positions, make a mistake, he’ll never make that mistake again. He does a good job of learning from others. Runs really well. He’s very, very clean from a mechanics and footwork standpoint and probably some of the toughest hands on the team catching the ball in traffic. So it doesn’t matter really where you put Carnell, he’s going to take care of his job and be a competitive advantage.”

As college coaches will tell you, the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. And sophomore receivers at Ohio State have a much more prolific history than freshmen.

Names like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison, Jr., and teammate Emeka Egbuka all posted 70+ receptions and 1,100+ yards as sophomores. Tate saw first-hand last year what it takes to be a force, and he’s ready to continue the lineage.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m on that trajectory,” he said. “I feel like it’s my time now. If not now, then when? I feel like I’m ready to embrace that bigger role as we go on.”

Like most receivers, Tate has a personal goal of 1,000 yards receiving this season, but that’s just the byproduct of what he really wants, which is to “make plays for the team when needed and be that go-to guy.”

The good news for Carnell Tate is that he won’t have to do it all by himself. The bad news for opposing defenses is that Carnell Tate won’t have to do it all by himself. Emeka Egbuka returns for his third year as a starter. True freshman Jeremiah Smith has received the bulk of the media attention in the receiver room. The running game should be elite this year as well.

The attention won’t be a stranger for long, however. Eventually people will begin to notice the talented sophomore receiver.

What will they see when that finally happens?

“They’re gonna see me play ball and talk my trash with it,” Tate said.

And both of those things should help get Carnell Tate the kind of attention he deserves.