Ohio State wide receivers are no strangers to the first round of the NFL Draft. Over the past four years, five Buckeyes wideouts have been selected in the first round: Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Emeka Egbuka.
Jeremiah Smith will eventually join that group in 2027, but Carnell Tate will add his name to that list this spring as a first-rounder in the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. In SaturdayBlitz’s latest mock draft, coming out of Week 15 in the NFL season, college football expert Nicholas Rome has Tate slotted for No. 4 overall to the Cleveland Browns.
Carnell Tate mocked to the Cleveland Browns at No. 4 overall by Saturday Blitz
The shock is not that Tate is a top-five pick. At 6-foot-3, his ridiculous speed, field-stretching ability, and contested catch prowess make him a three-level playmaker that every NFL coaching staff would covet. Rather, the shock is that Cleveland, in this scenario, passes on Oregon QB Dante Moore, who goes off the board one pick later to the New York Jets, to take Tate.
That’s not just a bet on Tate, but it’s a bet on 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders, who made his fourth start of the season on Sunday in Chicago. The former Colorado Buffalo went 18-for-35 for 177 yards with three interceptions and was sacked five times in the 31-3 blowout loss. Through five games, he’s completing 52.2 percent of his throws and averaging 6.9 yards per attempt with five touchdowns to six interceptions. He has also been sacked 10 times.
Sanders has NFL accuracy as a passer and is particularly adept at throwing over the middle of the field with anticipation and touch. He lacks elite arm strength, however, to push the ball outside the numbers consistently, and tends to hold onto the ball far longer than his limited athletic profile allows. Even if that bad habit breaks and he stops drifting in the pocket, which at times he does to make throws toward the sideline easier, but compromises his offensive line, he still won’t have high-level NFL tools to play the position.
He wouldn’t be the first quarterback to succeed with subpar arm strength and speed. Brock Purdy led the 49ers to a Super Bowl, and Bryce Young, though he isn’t always the catalyst, has the Carolina Panthers in first place in the NFC South. Tua Tagovailoa has even led prolific passing attacks. However, what those quarterbacks need to be successful is a perfect setup around them. That includes the play-caller, the pass catchers, and the offensive line.
Sanders has a strong offensive staff with Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Rees, but that’s where the list of advantages ends. Tate, along with an investment in the offensive line, could start to change that for Sanders, if Cleveland is, in fact, bought in on giving him a full season as its starting QB.