2022 NFL Draft Profile: WR Chris Olave

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A native of San Ysidro, California, Chris Olave finished his high school football career in dominating fashion. He hauled in 93 passes for a San Diego Section-record 1,764 yards and 26 touchdowns. Outside of football, Olave starred in basketball and ran track in high school. He was a standout in the 100-meter dash and long jump events, where his best marks were 10.8 seconds and 23-feet, six inches, respectively. Olave was a four-star recruit according to 247Sports, and ultimately decided to play college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

As a senior in 2021, Olave finished with 65 receptions, 936 receiving yards, 13 receiving touchdowns and had a yards per reception average of 14.4. He finished his Ohio State career with 176 receptions, 2,711 receiving yards, 35 receiving touchdowns and had a yards per reception average of 15.4. His career accolades include being a third-team All-Big Ten selection in 2019, as well as a two time first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, Olave also earned a second-team All-American selection and was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist.

Strengths

Route Running: In every sense of the word, Chris Olave is a technician. This shows up the most in his route running. He is so clean, fluid and crisp from the start of the route, until he finishes it. There is rarely a time where he will lose rhythm. On top of that, Olave does a good job to use soft, subtle steps. He maintains this to the end of the rep and is able to break his routes off smoothly. Olave separates himself in this draft class, with how effectively he sells moves and attacks leverage points. Simply put, he extends the throwing window for his quarterback so easily.

Separation: Piggybacking off of the selling point a bit more, Olave has a wide array of double moves and fakes at his disposal. There is a stutter step move and a staggered step move that the wide receiver has clung to the most. Occasionally, Olave will throw a late head fake in there as well. He is still impactful even without those moves, however. His ability to feel the soft spots in coverage and find the extended windows on elongated plays give him ample separation. Do not take the way he attacks angles lightly.

Release Package: Similar to his double moves during the route, Olave is smooth at the line of scrimmage. His footwork leaves opposing defensive backs guessing on which direction he is going to attack next. The combination of lateral quickness and change of direction skills that Olave possesses can lead to some opponents getting their feet tangled. Overall, this receiver improved against press coverage as his college career went on. His jab steps and vertical push are much more aggressive at this point in his game.

Weaknesses

Run After Catch Ability: There were many moments at Ohio State where it looked like Olave had a crease to work through in the open field. However, he did not always maximize on those opportunities. Olave can sometimes be a bit too patient to move vertically down the field after making the catch. This allows for defenders to catch him from behind. Elsewhere, when Olave has open running lanes, he tends to avoid contact by diving/sliding forward or going out of bounds too often. Creating more yards for himself after the catch will be crucial at the NFL level.

Ball Skills: The way in which Olave adjusts to the football is not the issue here. Making catches consistently in traffic or in contested catch moments is a work in progress. Olave appears to be hit or miss when meeting much more fierce defensive backs at the catch point. That physicality, along with up and down timing, can lead to hiccups. Olave will need to better refine his technique when high pointing the football.

Functional Strength: While Olave did impress against contact at the line of scrimmage, facing physical opponents in space or at the catch point proved to be a different story. He is good, not great, as a blocker. The same goes for jump ball moments or box-out situations. I would not categorize his approach as passive. Rather, trying to play the finesse game too often in those moments could lead to inconsistencies in the NFL.

Ideal Role

Chris Olave is someone who can handle a featured wide receiver role early in his NFL career. He was able to lineup all across the offensive formation at Ohio State. I would expect him to receive the same alignment freedom in the NFL. More importantly, Olave can handle a role in an offense that pushes the ball vertically. Whether it is with simple drop backs, or the play action pass game, this receiver is always capable of hitting on an explosive play. Do not discount his ability to win smoothly underneath either.

Potential Fits

Early on in the 2022 NFL Draft process, Chris Olave seemed almost guaranteed to be the first wide receiver off the board. If so, teams like the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers or New Orleans Saints may be interested. There seems to be a greater possibility that he could drop in round one, as of now. That could allow many teams the opportunity to bite. This includes the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs or Detroit Lions.

Be on the lookout for more FPC 2022 NFL Draft profiles in the coming weeks. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.