Freshman wide receiver Carnell Tate stepped onto Ohio State’s campus only nine months ago.
The 247Sports No. 22 nationally rated prospect immediately turned heads in spring practice with his athletic agility and knack for creating separation, but on July 16, tragedy struck.
Tate’s mother, Ashley Griggs, was senselessly killed in a drive-by shooting in their hometown of Chicago.
Since then, the 18-year-old has managed to cope with his grief as he continues to impress onlookers in fall camp, earning the respect and admiration of his coaching staff and peers, including junior wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
“He’s amazing,” Harrison said in a press conference Tuesday. “He handles his business. He’s always in the right spot, catches the ball, runs great routes, so I’m excited to really see what his career looks like. I think he can be one of the best receivers to ever come through Ohio State.”
Harrison is widely considered the best receiver in college football. He’s projected by many NFL draft analysts, including Mel Kiper Jr., to be a top-two pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
However, Harrison believes Tate has the opportunity to be even more ‘special.’
Harrison said Tate is better now than he was entering his sophomore year as a Buckeye. It’s a season in which Harrison caught over 70 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns.
“His future is very bright, and just how he’s handled his situation on and off the field,” Harrison said. “I can’t speak to how hard that must be for him.”
Harrison said seeing young players like Tate enter the program reminds him of his younger self. He believes programs such as South Florida Express, the country’s first 7-on-7 football program, help polish and advance players such as Tate because they can play football all year-round.
Junior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka also bestowed high praise upon the freshman.
Egbuka said Tate’s consistency and intelligence have been the most impressive aspect of the young talent. He said he catches the ball efficiently, creates separation and rarely has any missed assignments.
“He’s handled coming into a new offense to a higher level of play with grace,” Egbuka said. “And he did it at a more efficient level than even I thought I did.”
Egbuka said Tate has also raised his competitive edge and preparation.
It’s something that former Buckeye receiver and current New York Jets player Garret Wilson said drove him to compete at a higher level when Egbuka and Harrison were freshmen. Egbuka said Wilson always pushed them to be great, propelling them to step into his role once he declared for the draft.
He’s now on the receiving end as he looks to mimic what the former Buckeye receiver instilled in him. Tate has made this process much more enjoyable, he said.
“Carnell is the first in the room to let you know if you had a drop that day,” Egbuka said. “He talks a lot of trash, and it gets us going, so we got that competitive environment going in the wide receiver room.”
So far, Egbuka has lined up alongside Tate, Brandon Inniss and a dozen other freshmen wide receivers in practice.
He said he doesn’t feel a difference when playing with them or a drop-off in production when the next group of receivers takes the field. It’s a goal that Egbuka said he hopes continues once his career at Ohio State ends.
And with the presence of Tate for the foreseeable future, it’s a desire that isn’t that far out of reach.
“I expect them to transcend everything that we’ve done here, and if they didn’t, then that’s kind of on me,” Egbuka said. “It’s my job to pass the torch and to give them every bit and every nugget that I have.”
