The New Orleans Saints are quietly building something and they need the right wide receiver to make it real.
Tyler Shough’s first year in the NFL in 2025 got more attention than anyone thought it would. The former 40th overall pick went 5-4 as a starter, threw for 2,256 yards and 10 touchdowns, and showed he could be a real dual-threat quarterback in nine starts. This earned him a spot as a nominee for Offensive Rookie of the Year and made him the Saints’ franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future. But despite all the hope surrounding Shough, the Saints’ receiving corps has been painfully obvious all offseason: it’s just not good enough to help a quarterback become elite.
Chris Olave is a legitimately talented wide receiver, but he has missed at least one game due to injury in every single season of his NFL career, including nine games in 2024. Beyond Olave, the depth chart reads like a collection of developmental projects and reclamation signings, Devaughn Vele, Mason Tipton, Bub Means, and Kevin Austin make up the back end of a room that lacks star power, explosiveness, and most critically, a true complement to Olave who can line up on the outside and challenge defenses on every single snap.
With the eighth overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Saints have a golden opportunity to change the entire trajectory of their offense. Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, who many analysts projected directly to New Orleans at No. 8 in his post-free agency mock draft, is the answer. Here are two reasons why.
Carnell Tate’s Route Running and Separation Give Shough a Weapon He’s Never Had
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The thing that separates good quarterbacks from great ones is having a receiver who can win in every coverage, on every down, regardless of what the defense throws at him. For Tyler Shough, Carnell Tate would be exactly that receiver.
In 2025, PFF gave Tate an amazing 90.3 overall grade, which put him sixth out of all 679 qualified wide receivers in the country. The grade shows what scouts have been saying all pre-draft season: Tate’s route running is truly top-notch. PFF gave him a 9/10 for route running and a 9/10 for release and footwork.
They also pointed out that he had “90th-percentile separation metrics both overall and against single coverage,” which is a number that shows he will be successful at the next level. In 2025, he caught 44 passes and averaged 18.0 yards per reception. He also gained 198 yards after the catch and didn’t drop a single pass all season.
What makes this fit so perfect for the Saints is that Tate’s game is based on accuracy, intelligence, and execution, which is exactly what a young quarterback needs from his main target. He goes after the ball in the air, always high-points it when he catches it, and has a football IQ that is rare for someone his age. In 39 career college games, Tate hauled in 121 receptions for 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns while recording just five career drops, a 4% career drop rate that speaks directly to the reliability Shough needs.
Tate’s Size and Contested-Catch Ability Fills a Critical Gap Olave Can’t Cover Alone
Chris Olave is a smooth, precise route runner with excellent separation skills, but he is not a contested-catch bully or a red-zone weapon who physically dominates cornerbacks at the catch point. At 6-foot and 187 pounds, Olave wins with technique and speed, not physicality. The Saints need a receiver who complements those traits by winning the other way, and at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, Tate is exactly that player.
Carnell Tate 51 REC, 875 TDS, 9 TDs 2025 Season Highlights.pic.twitter.com/wtvohrBvau https://t.co/hAefiaiabO
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) February 18, 2026
Tate caught 12 of 14 contested targets at Ohio State in 2025, which was an 85.7% contested catch rate that was among the best in the country. His huge wingspan of 75 inches and a quarter inch makes it harder for defensive backs to jam or disrupt him at the catch point. PFF gave his hands a perfect 10/10 rating, which shows that he can catch the ball and has the kind of reliable possession skills that work in traffic, in the red zone, and on back-shoulder throws from a quarterback who is still getting used to throwing to his targets.
Pairing Tate’s contested-catch dominance alongside Olave’s underneath and intermediate precision would give Shough two legitimate outside threats with completely different skill sets, creating genuine pre-snap conflict for every defensive coordinator in the NFC South. It is the kind of one-two receiver punch that New Orleans has not had since the days of Michael Thomas and Olave playing together, and it gives the Saints’ offense the identity upgrade that the entire organization knows it desperately needs.
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