Big Board ranking: #29

Positional ranking: #7

 

Overview

Position: WR

College: Ohio State

Class: Senior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’0 3/8”

Weight: 187 lbs.

Arm length: 31 1/8″

Hand size: 9 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.39 sec.

Vertical jump: 32.0″

Broad jump: 124.0″

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Crafty overall route runner. Extremely smooth sinking hips in and out of breaks. Great ability to accelerate and decelerate as both a route runner and with the ball in his hands. Deceptive speed because of gliding run style. Excellent patience to slow play routes and create separation. Gets on cornerback’s heels before cutting on out routes. Very good ability to get feet down on the boundary. Quick to win with inside release versus press coverage. Terrific footwork to beat press jams. Very effective securing the ball on body catches. Soft hands. Reliable catching in contested coverage. High intelligence and great feel for finding open space. Cuts through the second and third level like butter versus zone coverage (including double moves). Effective tracking and lunging for downfield passes. Dangerous on drag routes. Plus vision and elusiveness with the ball. Mostly played out wide but can be used in a variety of inside alignments. Good blocker on the outside.

 

Weaknesses

Play strength can be improved. Needs to be better playing through physicality. Struggled with close coverage against Penn State (2021). Can be knocked off his route too easily by contact. Will fail to bring in some difficult off-target throws. Appears too lax at times. Benefitted from favorable coverage due to multiple No. 1-caliber wideouts at Ohio State.

 

NFL comparison

Joe Horn

 

Conclusion

Overall, Olave is a crafty route runner that can win on all three levels and shows promise beating the press with smooth release footwork. He can be an extremely productive target in an offensive system that puts him in a variety of alignments to get open.