2022 NFL Draft recruiting rewind: Ohio State's Chris Olave to New Orleans Saints

New Orleans traded up to No. 11 to select Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave
2022 NFL Draft recruiting rewind: Ohio State's Chris Olave to New Orleans Saints
2022 NFL Draft recruiting rewind: Ohio State's Chris Olave to New Orleans Saints /

Ohio State produced two wide receivers with first-round grades for this year's draft, Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave. 

But while Wilson was projected as a can't-miss prospect coming out of high school, Olave's climb has been slightly more surprising.

The New Orleans Saints traded up with the Washington Commanders to No. 11 overall to take Olave. 

Here's a look at how the Mission Hills High School (San Marcos, California) product was rated as a prep prospect in the 2018 recruiting cycle :

247Sports

Ranking: 4-star prospect; Nation's No. 210 overall prospect, No. 34 wide receiver

Notable: While Olave was viewed as a bluechip prospect, he was not a slam-dunk future NFL selection.

Olave was the No. 6 wide receiver in California, behind Mater Dei's Amon-Ra. St Brown (USC), Murrieta Valley's Marquis Spiker (Washington), Antelope Valley's Devon Williams (USC, Oregon), Inderkum's Isaah Crocker (Oregon) and San Marcos' Kyle Philips (UCLA).

Rivals

Ranking: 3-star prospect; Not rated nationally, No. 74 wide receiver

Notable: Olave collected offers from Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Tennessee, UCLA and USC, so his offer sheet seems to imply he should've been a four-star prospect. 

At least.

Of course, given his college output, he's produced like a five-star prospect during his time in Columbus. 

ESPN

Ranking: 3-star prospect; Not rated nationally, No. 157 wide receiver 

Notable: It's difficult to comprehend how a player with offers from at least four of the nation's top 20 college football programs could be rated so low.

As has been pointed out throughout this series, ESPN is (again) far and away the lowest on a high 2022 NFL Draft pick. 

Highlights


Published
Andrew Nemec, SBLive Sports
ANDREW NEMEC

Andrew Nemec covers national high school recruiting and brings more than a decade of experience. Andrew hosts "Recruiting with Andrew Nemec" on ESPN-affiliate 1080 The FAN in Portland, Oregon. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Oregon.