Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans CASE FOR CARNELL TATE in the First Round & Hendon Hooker Finally Back In Tennessee

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

The Tennessee Titans need help at wide receiver and the consensus top option in the NFL Draft is Carnell Tate. Tate may not seem like a likely selection at pick #4, but there are a lot of reason to think he could make sense with Cam Ward. However, there are some reasons to doubt whether Tate will ever become a player worthy of a selection that high. Also, the Titans added two depth pieces on Wednesday including quarterback Hendon Hooker, formerly of the Tennessee Volunteers. This is a move that has some comedy to it, but nonetheless is a smart move by the Titans to get a development player at the position who also makes the fans happy. KJ Osborn is also just a depth add, but those are needed as well.   LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/   Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans   TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc   Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans   Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod   Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos   Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Robinhood You’re no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. During the tournament FanDuel is offering $300 back in Bonus Bets every day for ten days. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Tennessee Titans desperately need help at wide receiver, and that's why Carnell Tate could be a real option at number four. I'll make the case for and against Tate on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rolls. and Titans fans on today's show.

We are going to make the case for and against Carnell Tate as an option for the Tennessee Titans at the top of the first round. I'll tell you why I think it does make sense, tell you why I wouldn't take Carnal Tate as well, and the Tennessee Titans made a few additions to the roster on April Fool's Day. One of them being Hendon Hooker, the former Tennessee Volve quarterback. That is a very interesting signing indeed.

Before we get into all of it, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans. Your first listen, each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Speaking of Every Day, shout up to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys if you aren't in every day or now is the perfect time to be one.

The draft is less than a month away. We're in the middle of the Locked on Titans NFL draft preview series. We did the top wide receivers last night. We're going to do the day two and day three wide receivers on tonight show. And of course, we talked about Tate last night. But Carnell Tate is a guy who I think makes a ton of sense. Before we get into it, again, make sure that you stay locked in with the Locked on Titans podcast.

But Carnell Tate could very well be the Titans pick at number four. Now, I think it's much more likely to be the edge rushers. I think it's much more likely to be Jeremiah Love. But outside the edge rushers and outside Jeremiah Love, I think Cornell Tate would be the next guy that I would want the Tennessee Titans to take. Now, the odds of, you know, the three edge rushers and Jeremiah Love

can't all be off the board. So there's no way that Carnell Tate is going to be my number one option unless the Titans trade down. But I'm not the one making the pick. And the Tennessee Titans could very well see Carnell Tate as a guy that they need to take at number four because at the end of the day, they desperately need help at wide receiver.

Signing Wondell Robinson, bringing back Calvin Ridley, those moves don't mean that the Titans have solved the wide receiver issue. It's not even close to solve the long term. Chim D.K. and Elykeo Manor, we have high hopes for those guys. But at the end of the day,

they are fourth round wide receivers. How many fourth round wide receivers are actual stud, alpha wide receivers in the NFL right now? one, Amon Ross St. Brown. You could maybe add him Pooka Nukuoka in there who was taken in the fifth round, right? Yeah, but there's not that many. There's not that many. So what can we realistically expect,

Nico Collins is a guy you could put in there. What can we realistically expect Chim Dike and Elyle to become? So the Titans are again just desperate for good wide receiver help. that in and of itself could lead the Titans to considering Carnal Tate and number four and then you add in who Tate is as a player. 6 foot 2, 193 pounds, 4.540 yard dash, about to turn 22 years old. He is big, he has great speed down the field. He has a great polish to him.

He is going to be a professional wide receiver right out of the gate. Runs good routes, understands coverage, good against leverage, and his style of play that above the rim, basketball, jump over top of guys, win vertically down the field, very Alex Pierce-ish, which is the comp that I've been using the entire draft season, and he reminds me of Alec Pierce. But maybe he could be a Mike Evans type. Maybe he could be T. Higgins.

and if he's that level of player, isn't that the exact type of wide receiver that you need with Cam Ward? Let's just call it what it is. Cam Ward's biggest deficiency is his deep ball, especially to the outside, outside the hash marks. He wasn't good there in college. He wasn't good there in his first year. He's erratic.

And I think that his mechanics can help that a little bit. and Robert Sala at the NFL owner's meetings was talking about how Cam Ward is working on his mechanics and it's mostly lower body. And I've talked about that, getting his feet lined up, not leaning on his back foot, driving forward. He can, with lower body mechanic improvements, Cam Ward can be a better deep ball passer

than what he's been the last couple of years of football that he's played. But is he ever going to be great at it? I don't know. So the best way to support Cam Ward's biggest deficiency is with a player exactly like Carnal tape. Literally exactly like Carnotate. That is elite contestant, the guy had zero drops. 78% of his contested catch situations, he caught the ball.

That's 99th, 100th percentile for college wide receivers. This is a guy who is as elite as it gets. at the things that Cam Ward struggles with. So, just from who he is as a person, how it helps Cam Ward, the Titans need as a team. Check, check, check. You know, it's hard for me to sit here and say

that Carnell Tate would not be a valid option at number four. I could see the Titans being interested in that. But for me personally, as I've said, that's the case for Carnell Tate. The case against Carnell Tate is where I've been throughout. I can't take Carnell Tate at number four, me personally. There's no way that I would take him over Arvel Reese, Rubin Bain, David Bailey, Jeremiah Love.

And again, like I said, just the simple math of the draft, Fernando Mendoza is going number one. And when that happens, there's no way that one of those four guys will not be there over Carnell Tate at number four. And I would take them again. Reese, Bain, Bailey, Love. I would take them over Carnell Tate. So why can't justify

taking Carnal Tate at number 4 when I know one of those guys are going to be there? That's just because of who I see him as. Again, I see Alec Pierce. Alec Pierce is a good player. He's a good football player.

But he's a number two wide receiver. A mid-level number two. high level number two wide receivers, or like Devante Smith, T. Higgins, Jalen Waddle. I don't know that Carnell Tate is as good as Jordan Addison. Is he as good as

Brian Thomas Jr.? I don't know. I don't know that for sure. So, can you take Corey Davis is a guy that a lot of people have compared Cardinal Tate too? Would you take Corey Davis again at number four? hoping that he would play a little bit longer,

but, I mean, he had a 900-yard season. In this draft class, most of the high first-round picks are really mid-round talents, in my opinion. So that changes the math. So maybe you would take Carnell Tate in this draft because it's not a very good draft class up top. But I don't think that Carnell Tate is a real number one wide receiver.

I don't think that he's an alpha-wide receiver. never been one. He's always been a wide receiver too. He's benefited from all the attention that goes to Jeremiah Smith that gives him one-on-one opportunities down the field that allows him to win vertically when the rest of the defense is focused on someone else underneath. I think he's got a lot of benefits. Now, I don't think that that ruins who he is as a player. I don't think that that should diminish how good he is. But I think he's just a wide receiver two. And can you take a wide receiver two in the top five. Would a good wide receiver two be worth more than an elite running back? Would a good wide receiver too be worth more than a good pass rusher? Not to me.

And you get into his game a little bit more. He can be out physicaled over the middle of the field. He's a great vertical route runner but his short and intermediate route running leaves some to be desired his toughness. We saw in the Miami game, he alligator armed a couple over the middle because he didn't want to get hit. And, you know, I talked about how he balances out exactly what Cam Ward struggles with. But you could do the glass half full, glass half empty discussion and say, if Cam Ward's not good at those passes, why would you get somebody who's only good

in those situations or is mostly good in those situations? Their best attribute is a situation that your quarterback's worst attribute. Why would you pair that up? Why wouldn't you add to your quarterback's strengths instead of trying to prop up as weaknesses? That's an argument that could be made too. So that is where I lean. I would much rather have other players than Carnell Tate.

But again, that's the case for and against Carnal Tate. How do you feel about Carnell Tate as an option at number four? Again, if the Titans were to get a trade back, though, I would be all over Carnell Tate if the Titans move, you know, three to six spots back. That would make a ton of sense because at that point, obviously the math and the board is different. But with that being said, the Tennessee Titans added a couple of players on Wednesday. And one of them is Hendon Hooker, the quarterback out of the University of Tennessee,

like a lot of balls fans wanted all along. Do you want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter.

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Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives LLC, a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. And let's continue today's bonus edition of the Lockdown Titans podcast. We talked about the case for and against Cornell Tate as we continue our first round pick investigation series. We did Jeremiah Love on yesterday's bonus episode. Cornell Tate today looking at all the Tennessee Titans first round options. But the Tennessee Titans added a couple of players. The Tennessee Titans add Hendon Hooker, the quarterback, and they also add KJ Osborne, the wide receiver.

There is the offensive help that everyone was waiting for. Wide receiver is now solved. They got a KJ. Osborne in there. But look, let's start with the Hendon Hooker thing. It's so funny that this happened on April Fool's. Hilarious. I had people in my comments asking Grock if it was true, like Jeremy Fowler and George Shultz and Adam Schepter and all these different insiders are going to tweet out that a player

is signing with a team as a joke. Like, this isn't a retired player. It's not like saying Mike Ditka signs with the Bears, you know, somebody who's passed away or something like that. Like, this isn't that kind of, it's real. Yes, Hendon Hooker is signing with the Tennessee Titans. Now, again, the timing of that with it being on April Fool's and making everybody wonder if it was real, that's hilarious in and of itself. but as a move, it's fine. The Titans need practice squad players. And now Henden Hooker can be that QB3

that's on the practice squad all year that the Titans are teaching their system. I say development, he's 28 years old. I mean, how much is he going to develop at this point in time? Not very much, but at the end of the day, it's just a guy that you can have on your practice squad, teach your offense too, have in case there's an injury, you need to bring him up, blah, blah, blah.

Like the Titans need a QB3 for the practice squad to be a camp arm during training camp and mandatory mini-camp and all these different OTAs. They, you know, they don't want Cam Ward throwing too much coming off the shoulder injury. You don't want to overwork him. Mitch Trubisky doesn't need to be doing a ton of throwing work and things like that. Like, you know, you know who he is. So you let Will Levis come in, get healthy, and you let him and Hendon Hooker compete against. against each other like Volus fans wanted to see all along.

But again, eventually Will Levis is going to be traded. I don't think that this move, oh yeah, look, you know, Will Levis is definitely traded after this. I already thought he was definitely traded. He already was gone. This move doesn't confirm that, deny that, anything like that. You know what I mean? But again, I think it's a fine move.

You need these kind of guys. guys on the roster. So when Will Levis is inevitably traded, you have Cam Ward at QB1, Mitch Trubesky at QB2, and Hendon Hooker is your practice squad QB3. And listen,

if the Titans picked Hendon Hooker to be their QB3 when they could pick a number of guys who are just camp body practice squad guys, if they picked him 1% Because they wanted to pander to Tennessee

Volves fans I wouldn't be mad Hey we got to get people back in the stadium We gotta sell tickets to the new stadium We gotta get the fans charge back up It's a QB3 It's a practice squad QB It's not gonna make the difference

Between the championship or not So if the Titans are like Hey Mike I know you were gonna bring in a QB3 at some point To kind of be practice squad guy Well why don't we bring in Hendon Hooker

you know, I don't think that would be a bad idea. I wouldn't even be mad. I wouldn't even be mad about that. He's good enough to be that guy, and it makes him people happy, and, you know, it's hilarious. It's hilarious that they got Hendon Hooker. I mean, he's played three games in his career,

six for nine, 62 yards. Whatever, man. The people out there, they should have taken Hendon Hooker in the draft over Levis. Hennon Hooker would be a starting Q, be right now. Now get out of here. You guys are being ridiculous. He's a practice squad player. He's not better than Will Levis. He's not going to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He's lucky to have a career still right now. But that's okay. Be that guy. Be the practice squad guy for

the Titans. That's fun. That's just fun. I can't be mad about that. And again, they brought in KJ. Osborne, wide receiver. Have some good years with the Minnesota Vikings from 2021 to 23, about 500 yards a season. stuff like that. He's had 16 catches, 1,9002 yards in his career 16 touchdowns. But in 2024, he played for multiple teams. Last year he bounced around practice squads the whole time. He's not

he's not like somebody, again, he's like Hendon Hooker but at wide receiver. Like that's a camp body. That's somebody who's just going to come in and eat innings. And I think that he's a veteran that is going to

push Xavier Restrepo. I think this is a potential Wondale Robinson. Who is going to be Wondale Robinson's direct backup as a slot wide receiver? The 5'1-213-k.J. Osborne

Or will Xavier Restrepo beat him out? I think that's the competition that we need to focus on there. But that's going to do it for today's bonus edition. Again, I'm going to be back later tonight to break down the rest of the wide receiver class. So many wide receivers had to break it up

into two different episodes. We talked about by Sensational 6 earlier in the week last night, the top six wide receivers in the draft, who I think would take Kim Ward's second season to a different level. But more likely, the Titans are going to get one of the remaining wide receivers, and we're going to go over everybody that you need to know later on tonight. That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans.