2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Chris Olave

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NAME: Chris Olave

POSITION: Wide Receiver

SCHOOL: Ohio State

HEIGHT: 6′

WEIGHT: 187 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

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.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

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.

Football IQ

With him being such a technician, there is plenty of deception to Olave’s game. He simply leaves defensive backs guessing in space. Moreover, Olave is stout when it comes to his body positioning between he and the defender. The same thing can be said when he is running spacing routes over the middle of the field, or when running vertically along the sideline. On the other hand, Olave takes crisp angles in space and forces opposing tacklers to make swift decisions. The adjustments and alterations that he adds to his routes also allow him to gain extra space at the beginning of reps.

Hands

From time to time, Olave can catch with his body a bit more than one would like. His stellar body control and patient style help balance that out at the catch point, nevertheless. There are occasional moments where his focus wanes in traffic. Extending his arms fully away from his chest will be something that can be improved with coaching. Olave is seemingly able to soften the ball at the catch point, however. Because of that, he is a rather dependable and reliable pass catcher in all areas of the field. That is massive for him, given what the NFL may think about his “smallish” frame.

Speed

The play speed may not equal the surprisingly strong speed that Olave showed at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine. Yet, he is quite deceiving and elusive when he is able to turn on the jets. Olave plays with so much finesse and precision. As a result, there may be times where he is late to fire his speed into action. Or, opportunities are not matched with any sort of attempt whatsoever. Olave may not win a lot of footraces in the open field. But in the end, this wide receiver can be quite dangerous when finding that second gear. Olave has the short area burst and smooth footwork to tangle up defenders.

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.

Versatility

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. In the end, Olave will be best suited for a vertical, spread offense. He can still lineup all over the formation. But, the results and tendencies are often the same from Olave and can be picked up quicker by defensive backs.

CHIEFS FIT

The Kansas City Chiefs could present one of the more appealing offensive schemes to someone like Chris Olave. Ohio State’s pass catcher may be best suited to receive numerous vertical opportunities. Kansas City has also been noted heavily for their use of option routes and horizontal concepts. Especially since Patrick Mahomes became the quarterback, those continued variations have grown within the offense. Olave can certainly play bigger than his size, if need be. However, the style of play that he presents could complement the more physical styles of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling quite efficiently.

Be on the lookout for our final 2022 FPC Chiefs draft prospect profile for tomorrow, on Sunday. 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.