Tennessee Titans rookie Carnell Tate scored his first NFL touchdown at the perfect moment. On October 18 in Indianapolis, the Titans came out of halftime trailing the Colts 13-0, chipped away with two Joey Slye field goals, and then, after a 58-yard punt return by Chimere Dike, Cam Ward found Tate for an 8-yard touchdown that tied the game 13-13 early in the fourth quarter. A blocked punt return for a touchdown and two more Slye field goals finished a 26-20 Titans win, Robert Saleh's first as Titans head coach and the 500th win in franchise history.
Tate finished with 6 catches for 70 yards, and he was responsible for three of the Titans' four longest plays on offense, including a 19-yard catch on third-and-10. "It felt good, to go out there and finally get a touchdown," he said. It was his third game this season with at least 6 catches and 50 yards, which makes him the first Titans rookie receiver to do that since Kendall Wright in 2012. He leads the Titans with 29 catches for 344 yards, including a 9-catch, 145-yard game against the Ravens in Week 4.
Who is Carnell Tate?
The Titans drafted Tate #4 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. A Chicago native, he won a national championship at Ohio State in the 2024 season, then broke out in 2025 with 51 catches for 875 yards and 9 touchdowns, earning second-team All-American honors. Now he and Cam Ward are building the Titans' passing game together.
Carnell Tate rookie cards
His base rookie card is 2026 Topps Football #318, Topps' first NFL flagship in a decade, and the easiest way to get it is the Titans team set, which comes with Cam Ward and the rest of the Titans too. The fan favorite is his 1991 Topps Rookies #91TR-18 insert, a throwback design that also comes in a crackle foil parallel and a pink crackle foil parallel. For a relic card there is his Rookie Material Relic, and the Titans 1991 Topps insert pack puts his rookie insert together with Cam Ward's 1991 design.
