Carnell Tate's Pre-Draft Gauntlet

Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate sits down with Rich days before the NFL Draft, and the conversation starts with a premise most evaluators now agree on. Tate is the top wide receiver in this class. Nobody he's asked has him anywhere else.

Rich walks him through the pre-draft tour. Tate has visited five teams with two more to go. The order tells a story. He started with Cleveland, which is an hour and a half to two hours from the Ohio State facility in Columbus. He went to Kansas City. Then Baltimore. Then Tennessee. Then New Orleans. Washington and the Giants are still on the calendar.

Rich leans into the Ohio connection. Buckeye fans would love for the tour to end in Cleveland. Tate agrees the city is basically down the road. He describes the visits the same way most prospects do at this stage. The facility tour, the coaching staff conversations, the football IQ questions. It's all football by now.

Then Rich pokes the bear. If Tate winds up in Baltimore instead of Cleveland, fans would be looking for the nearest bridge. Tate knows the rivalry. He knows the history runs long before he was born.

Tate didn't see Lamar Jackson in Baltimore because the players weren't yet required to report. He didn't see Chris Olave in New Orleans for the same reason. Only one team had players in the building while he was there. That was Tennessee. And in Tennessee he met Cam Ward, the quarterback expected to go at or near the top of the draft. Ward's message was simple. Enjoy the process. It only happens once.

Rich pushes on that. It's hard to enjoy something you don't control. Tate says he's staying chill. He's done what he can on the football side. The rest isn't up to him.

Asked what a team gets when it drafts him, Tate doesn't hesitate. A complete player. He can stretch the field. He can win the contested catch. He's a willing blocker. He can run the routes to get open. He says you get it all.

Asked what he needs to improve, he pauses. Press coverage, maybe. There are very few clips of him getting pressed in college, so that's the legitimate question on his tape. Rich gives him the out to say nothing, and Tate doesn't take it. The honesty plays.

Rich closes by flagging the New Orleans angle. The Saints are in the top ten and have a history of drafting Ohio State receivers. Chris Olave can't guard Mike Evans forever. Michael Thomas is the OG of that lineage. And sitting right next to Rich during the interview is Terry McLaurin, another Ohio State receiver who became a franchise piece. The pipeline is real, and Tate might be the next one through.