What Titans love about WR Carnell Tate, and why they picked him over LB Arvell Reese

Tennessee Titans assistant general manager Dave Ziegler used the phrase "consensus vision" to describe the team's decision to select wide receiver Carnell Tate instead of linebacker Arvell Reese with the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft . Going into the draft, barely anyone connected Tate with the Titans .

Tate himself was surprised he ended up in Nashville, and with good reason. Months of pre-draft scuttlebutt connected the Titans with running back Jeremiyah Love, linebacker Sonny Styles and edge defenders Reese and David Bailey, leaving Tate as a distant fifth in the perceived pecking order. Then, when Bailey went No.

2 to the New York Jets and Love went No. 3 to Arizona, the perfect Reese scenario seemed to fall in the Titans' lap. The Titans went another way.

Ziegler, speaking to reporters on April 28, credited that concept of consensus vision. Everyone in the Titans' draft room not only agreed on the type of prospect Tate was, but on the vision for how to use Tate on coach Robert Saleh's roster and in offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's scheme. There was little ambiguity or disagreement about who the Titans saw Tate to be.