Carnell Tate and Rueben Bain are names frequently thrown around the New Orleans Saints leading up to the Saints. With the question marks behind Chase Young and Chris Olave, it’s no surprise that position has drawn a lot of attention. Ask Clutch Point's Garrett Kerman and he'll tell you padding those rooms with Tate or Bain is a massive mistake.
The positive side is Tate and Bain aren't the only options who could be on the board at 8. Kerman didn't go as far as listing other options for the Saints, but Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon and David Bailey are the most obvious alternatives at wide receiver and edge rusher. Bailey is a bit of a long shot to make it, so it could be Bain or nothing at the position.
Kerman's assessment can be boiled down to a simple statement. "New Orleans needs to focus on elite athleticism and standard measurements to really make a splash." Because Tate and Bain failed each failed to check one of those boxes, Kerman advocates for the Saints to pass on them in the first round.
Did Rueben Bain and Carnell Tate test their way out of the Saints pick?
Bain and Tate each had one trait "exposed" in testing, and it eliminates them as an option at eight in Kerman's eyes. Tate lacks elite speed, and Bain has some of the shortest arms ever recorded at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Bain was labeled as a "dimensional outlier." For a team that's always relied on prototypes, Kerman's skepticism is warranted. The Saints prototype changed with the hire of Brandon Staley, but Bain's arms disqualifies him from having prototypical size in any system. Bain's arms never limited in college, but Kerman believes "he will routinely get swallowed up by the wingspans of professional tackles.
Kerman did did more than just focus on one trait when it came to Tate. Not only does he not have elite speed, Kerman thinks the Saints would be wise to pass on Tate because he isn't the style of receiver the Saints need.
Tate ran a 4.53 at the Combine. Go look up the 40 yard dash times of many top receivers and you'll see how big of a deal that is. For Kerman, it's a big enough deal to not draft him in the top 10. Every receiver drafted in the top-10 in the last 5 years has either ran sub 4.5 or didn't run at all. While it's not a deterrent to success in the slightest, it could be a deterrent draft-wise. Tate is more of a "technician" than "transcendent athlete," and that just doesn't do it for Kerman
Speed may take Tate out of being a top-10 receiver, but style of play makes him a poor fit for the Saints to Kerman. The Saints need a "true yards-after-catch monster," and that isn't Tate. It's the one trait the Saints are missing in their receiver room.
All in all, Kerman sees a "a medium-ceiling possession receiver" when he looks at Tate. The entirety of this equation screams "run away" if you see it how he sees it.