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Finding the Next Breakout Rookie in Fantasy Football: Carnell Tate vs Jordyn Tyson

By Thomas Carelli Sports Illustrated

The NFL season is nearing, and the incoming rookie class is building excitement among all fantasy football fans. The wide receiver position is topped by the two stars of Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson. These players offer vastly different skill sets: Tate is a vertical threat, while Tyson is a slot-speed threat. Nonetheless, they both will have tremendous value in their debut seasons. So, who is the better player?

Fantasy Football Outlook: Carnell Tate

Expected Ranking: WR30

Upside: WR15

Tate will play football in Nashville with the Tennessee Titans. His quarterback is Cam Ward, who had struggled in Year No. 1 but improved as the year went on. Ward is widely considered to breakout with Brian Daboll to be a top-20 NFL quarterback, if not even better.

On the Titans' depth chart, Tate will battle with Calvin Ridley for the WR1 designation. Either way, Tate will have a large workload. The question is: will his target share be around 17-20%, or 25-30%? That will be answered in due time, but the mark around 20% seems more likely.

The Titans not only have Tate and Ridley on the roster but also added Wan'Dale Robinson, who played under Brian Daboll in New York. Beyond that, the team has Elic Ayomanor and the explosive Chimere Dike. There are a lot of mouths to feed, and while Tate is good enough to eventually have a >25% target share and average 75+ yards per game, it is rash to expect that right away.

Tate would be sharply projected to score about 6-8 touchdowns this year, with a ceiling of 10-12. He should reach 1,000 yards, but not by a long shot. The expected range might be 1,000-1,250 receiving yards across 17 games.

Fantasy Football Outlook: Jordyn Tyson

Expected Ranking: WR32

Upside: WR12

Tyson joins a Saints team that came onto the scene under Tyler Shoughin in 2025. He very much could have won Rookie of the Year honors if Shough had started earlier in the season. The rookie quarterback threw for about 238 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

Kellen Moore's pass-friendly offense will look to leverage Tyson with Chris Olave. In 2025, the Saints ranked 5th in the NFL in pass rate (59%).

Both wide receivers have rather similar skill sets in their sharp route-running, particularly inside the hashes. Even better yet, they are not contested at all on the depth chart. Behind the duo come DeVaughn Vele, Mason Tipton, and a pair of day 3 rookie draft picks: Bryce Lance and Barion Brown.

There is a world where Tyson is, in fact, better than Olave and more durable. To expect Tyson to outplay Olave right away in rash, but the pair shall expect to put up huge numbers. Tyson and Olave both can easily have 25-30% target shares and double-digit touchdowns.

Tyson may be expected to exceed 1,000 receiving yards with 1,300-1,500 yards, easily on the upside. He should take a look at double-digit touchdowns.

Pick or Pass: Carnell Tate vs Jordyn Tyson

Either option will likely be a win in 2026. They are on pass-friendly offenses with brilliant minds coaching them up (Daboll, Moore).

The best way to make a tough call like this is to favor upside. Even that can be debated, but it seems that Tyson has less competition in an offense with expectations similar to the Titans'. By default, Tyson could have higher volume, and while Tate is a better ball tracker, that does not mean he will have more touchdown opportunities.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Finding the Next Breakout Rookie in Fantasy Football: Carnell Tate vs Jordyn Tyson.

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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM.

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