Emeka Egbuka has not been shy about the way he views Carnell Tate and if he truly is the No. 3 wide receiver on Ohio State‘s depth chart. Based on what Egbuka has said, he does not seem to believe that Tate is of the status he is currently being held to.

But it is not necessarily in a bad way. Egbuka does not seem to believe in the depth chart the way that so many others do. If anything, Egbuka believes Tate is better than he is being given credit for.

“I would disagree with you. He’s a No. 1 receiver, we don’t have a No. 3 receiver,” said Egbuka in response to a question on Saturday.


Tate, to this point in the season, has exceeded expectations. He has also, off of the field, been through quite a bit from a personal perspective. The most significant of those was the death of his mother, Ashley Griggs, who was killed at the mere age of 40 years old in a drive-by shooting in July of 2023.

“It was a lot of high emotion and stuff like that,” Tate told the media shortly after a big performance in Chicago. “It means a lot to me playing back in my city, especially my first time being back since my freshman year of high school, and especially being able to play in front of all my family and friends.”

Tate has been overshadowed slightly this season with the veteran Egbuka (824 yards) and freshman Jeremiah Smith (1,037 yards) generating the majority of big plays for the Buckeyes. However, Tate has been instrumental with 601 yards and has come up big at multiple times, including a 2-touchdown game vs. Northwestern.

It will be interesting to see how he continues to perform as the College Football Playoff continues.