Chris Olave explains how Ohio State wide receiver room prepared him for NFL

Chris Olave was part of a loaded wide receiver room at Ohio State, which is quickly becoming “Wide Receiver U.” After becoming the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the new New Orleans Saints wide receiver explained how the Buckeyes prepared him for the league.

Wide receivers coach Brian Hartline is a huge part of the reason Ohio State has success at wide receiver. The No. 10-12 picks were all together in the Buckeyes wide receiver room in 2020. Garrett Wilson went to the New York Jets, Olave to the Saints and Jameson Williams — who transferred to Alabama in 2021 — joined the Detroit Lions. They were all the top targets for Justin Fields, and Olave said the coaching staff makes it a priority to get the players ready for the next level.

“It’s a competitive environment, especially in that receiver room,” Olave said. “We’ve got so many guys. We got Jaxon [Smith-Njigba] next year, we’ve got Marvin Harrison [Jr.] in the room. We’ve got so many younger guys that make that jump. At the end of the day, we make each other better and we wish the best for each other. That’s all you can hope for.”

As impressive as Olave and Wilson’s seasons were in 2021, Smith-Njigba wound up Ohio State’s leading receiver as a sophomore. He had 1,606 receiving yards and nine touchdowns and is a virtual lock to be CJ Stroud’s top target once again in 2022.

Garrett Wilson gives candid take on Ohio State’s wide receiver production

The No. 10-12 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft all had one thing in common: They all were in the Ohio State receiver room together at one point. The first of those draft selections — Garrett Wilson — gave a candid take about why the Buckeyes have so much success under wide receivers coach Brian Hartline.

During his introductory press conference with the Jets alongside fellow draft picks Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and Jermaine Johnson II, Wilson shared the biggest keys to the wide receiver talent in Columbus. He said it not only comes down to Hartline’s expectations, but the newcomers meeting them to push everyone else to be better.

“The main thing Coach Hartline is preaching there is how to train like a pro, take care of your body like a pro, approach media like a pro,” Wilson said. “When he’s teaching that, he’s not going to coddle you. The ones that don’t decide to take that approach to the way you go about your business, you just kind of go by the wayside. The ones that do, you see them be successful in our room.

“Every year, we’ve got guys coming in, pushing the standard up. This year, it was Marvin Harrison Jr. and then Jaxon [Smith-Njigba] the year before that. It gets better every year. Coach Hart’s got something really special going on there. It’s just now getting started. They’ve got some dudes over there, for sure.”