There are few Ohio State football players who were loved by fans as much as Chris Olave. Olave started producing big plays from the moment he started playing with the Ohio State Buckeyes. He had his coming-out party during the 2018 Michigan game when he caught two touchdowns and blocked a punt.
After that, he only got better throughout his career. By the time it was all said and done, Olave ended up being a first-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 2022 NFL Draft. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to former Buckeye teammate Garrett Wilson.
Since that season, he has struggled to stay healthy. Olave has suffered a large number of concussions, which puts his future in jeopardy. While he played in 16 games in 2023, he played in just eight last season because of concussion problems. He's hoping to put that behind him this year.
Former Ohio State football player Chris Olave trying to put injury woes behind him
Olave has suffered four concussions in his young career already. Research has shown that it is easier to suffer a concussion once a player has suffered one, and that seems to be the case for Olave. Meanwhile, he is performing very well during training camp with the Saints.
Chris Olave is so good.
— Polymarket Football (@PolymarketBlitz) July 30, 2025
I hope he gets some good QB play at some point in his career 💔
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In his career, Olave hasn't played with very good quarterbacks. He had a quarterback carousel last season, and will have a brand new quarterback this season. Even so, he had over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons. Last season, he wasn't healthy enough to hit those numbers.
Fans of the Buckeyes across the country are rooting for Olave to stay healthy this season and really show what he can do. He's clearly good enough to be a number-one receiver in the NFL, but he has to hope that factors out of his control don't keep him from being able to do that.