Inside the Numbers: The Soaring Highs (And Expected Lows) of Carnell Tate's Rookie Season So Far

A full appraisal of Carnell Tate's rookie resume through seven games, as the WR continues to take an impressive hold on Tennessee's offense.

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate (14) catches the ball for a first down during the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Rookie WR Carnell Tate continues to be one of the Titans’ few bright spots in an otherwise miserable season. After seven games, the rookie leads the team in targets (51), catches (34), and receiving yards (413).

Tate has also totaled at least 69 receiving yards in three of his last four games, including a monster 145-yard performance in Baltimore a few weeks back. Those numbers are encouraging for any Titans fan, but those numbers don’t tell the full story on how impactful Tate has truly been.

Using Pro Football Focus (PFF) data, this article is going to dive into some of the more analytical numbers surrounding Tennessee’s rookie pass catcher.

With that said, let’s get right into it.

Diving into Tate's first-year success

Head coach Robert Saleh recently gushed about Tate’s ability to get upfield immediately after plucking the ball out of the air on some of the underneath throws, and for good reason. That’s an area where Tate has undoubtedly excelled early in his career. 

HC Robert Saleh on WR Carnell Tate pic.twitter.com/TNOmU5gfQ3

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 19, 2026

Slants, in particular, appear to be Tate’s number one route that he not only feels most comfortable with, but also where he’s most productive. The former Buckeye has caught 10 of his 13 targets on slant routes for 109 yards.

Meanwhile, the out route appears to be Tate’s most efficient route through seven games, catching all seven of his targets for 47 yards and his lone touchdown of the year. Unsurprisingly, go routes are the one area that is severely inconsistent at the moment, largely due to the current limitations surrounding the passing game.

Tate has only caught two of his eight targets on go balls for 32 yards.

Another area that stands out after diving into the numbers is how much this offense already runs through the rookie. The Titans’ 21-year-old receiver has been the first read on approximately 84% of his team leading 51 targets.

He’s also been considered either ‘open’ or ‘wide open’ approximately 42.8% of the time, while being locked in tight coverage just 16.3 percent of the time.

In total, Tate has an impressive separation rate of 83.7, which is higher than the likes of Falcons WR Drake London (79.2), Giants WR Malik Nabers (78.7), Eagles WR Devonta Smith (78.4), Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (78.3), Jets WR Garrett Wilson (78.0), and Rams WR Puka Nacua (77.8), just to name a few of the notable names he's currently ahead of.

Tate's mild areas of concern

As is the case with any player - especially a rookie - Tate hasn't been completely flawless through seven weeks of football.

Ball security has been the one area holding Tate’s game back at the moment. He currently leads all rookies in both drops (four) and fumbles (three). He also has a negative play percentage of 3.4% — 11th highest among all rookies.

Tate will need to address some of these issues holding him back during the offseason when he can really focus on working on his ball security.

Nonetheless, if the former fourth overall pick is able to clean this area of his game up going forward, then the sky could truly be the limit for the Titans’ talented young wideout.