2022 NFL Draft Prospects to Watch: Ohio State vs. Michigan

Ohio State WR Chris Olave

I’ve saved the best prospect on this list for last, Chris Olave (pronounced Oh-Lah-Vay). The Buckeyes have the best receiving corps in the country, including two potential first rounders in the 2022 NFL Draft. Many draftniks have Garrett Wilson ranked ahead of Chris Olave, and fellow wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who’s merely a sophomore, is second in the conference in receiving with 1,132 yards. But I’ll focus on Olave here.

As a receiver Chris Olave is more or less the total package. He has the speed (4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash) and technical skills that all great receivers have. Two examples of this are sideline catches and late hands. Multiple times on film, I saw Chris Olave run toward the sideline, reel in the ball, and get his feet down just before going out of bounds. He makes sideline catches look easy, and you can tell they are something that he practices.

When running with a defensive back, Chris Olave doesn’t throw his hands up to catch the ball until the very last possible second. Doing this prevents the defensive back from realizing that the ball is about to arrive, as he’s usually focused fully on the receiver. Because of his speed and explosive deep threat potential, many teams will use zone coverage, to prevent the big shot over the top. Chris Olave, who’s a senior, uses his experience to know where the soft spots in those zones are and he frequently finds them and sits down in them, making himself available to the quarterback.

It’s not just Olave’s speed that helps him to break games open, it’s his acceleration and ability to change directions quickly that make him so dynamic. I saw one play where he was virtually stopped on the sideline running with the ball, and he took two steps, got up to top speed and blew past the defenders into the end zone. He can go from 0-60 faster than almost anyone on the field. Chris Olave only has two career punt returns and one career kickoff return, but his skill set would make him a prime candidate to return punts and kicks at the next level if his future team wanted to use him that way.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Chris Olave’s hands. His hands are undoubtedly some of the best in the country and will be a big reason why he’ll be selected in the first round. Despite his slight frame (6’1” 189), I’ve seen Olave make multiple contested catches against defensive backs that were tightly covering him. His strong hands, ability to deftly track the ball on deep passes, and his penchant for getting open when the quarterback is scrambling should suit Chris Olave very well in the NFL following his likely day one selection in the 2022 NFL Draft.