Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave is announced as the eleventh overall pick to the New Orleans Saints during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft at the NFL Draft Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The New Orleans Saints traded up with the Washington Commanders to take a wide receiver. They went with Chris Olave from the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The New Orleans Saints were rumored to be one of the teams looking to trade up in the NFL Draft this year. Some thought they might be doing it to take a quarterback, but that’s not what they ended up doing. They moved to the 11th-overall pick, originally owned by the Washington Commanders, and they took Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Chris Olave.
Olave was the second receiver taken out of Ohio State this season. Garrett Wilson went to the New York Jets with the 10th-overall pick. It seems strange to see wide receivers from the same team going back-to-back in the draft, but both Ohio State pass catchers were highly rated.
However, Olave was clearly the worse of the two receivers. He’s never broken the 1,000-yard mark in college, something his teammate Wilson did last season. He did have 13 touchdowns last season, showing he was able to catch balls when it mattered most. Although, it is worth pointing out that the only two games Olave didn’t score a touchdown were against Michigan and Oregon, the only two games Ohio State lost this past season.
The New Orleans Saints trade a ton of NFL Draft picks to take Ohio State’s second-best wide receiver.
The Saints traded a third- and fourth-round pick to move up from No. 16 to 11. The run of wide receivers continued after them with the Lions trading up to get Jamison Williams after the Saints, but it still seems like a lot to give for a wide receiver most expected to go around where the Saints were picking anyway.
The Saints still have a first-round pick available after a wild trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. They gave up next year’s first-round pick to get two firsts this season. Many think the Saints don’t have the roster they once did and Sean Payton is no longer there to get the best out of the offense no matter who is playing quarterback. That was a huge risk, and now it’s an even bigger risk because they lost their third and fourth-round picks this season.
The Saints are going all in on the players they want. They are doing this despite having Jameis Winston as the starting quarterback coming off a torn ACL. The Saints need a miracle for this to make sense, as they just have too much on the line this season.
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