Chris Olave draft stock still climbing after blazing Combine time
INDIANAPOLIS — Chris Olave didn’t offer a prediction, just a sly smile.
The Ohio State product has put his blazing speed on film numerous times during his career, including a couple breakout performances in Lucas Oil Stadium already. So, Olave showed up to the NFL Combine confident that he could put on a show with the professional scouts and stopwatches watching.
Then he backed it up with an absolutely blazing unofficial time of 4.26 seconds in the 40-yard dash on Thursday night. If for some reason there had been creeping doubts about his high-end speed, Olave obliterated them with an eye-popping workout in Indianapolis.
“There’s nothing to prove to nobody, really,” Olave said on Wednesday. “I just want to prove it to myself. I’ve been training for this for so long, and just to get this once in a lifetime opportunity is a huge blessing.
“So, I’ve just got to go out there and compete against myself. It’s just Me versus Me, and I’ll show the world what I can do.”
Chris Olave did exactly that, and the performance won’t soon be forgotten by the draft decision-makers as they weigh their options at wide receiver ahead of the NFL Draft next month.
For whatever reason, there had seemingly been some creeping uncertainty in certain circles about how Olave would test at the Combine — which apparently ignored both his reputation as a recruit and as a record-breaking deep threat for the Buckeyes. It’s never been any secret that a guy who was used as a pinch-running base stealer for his high school baseball team could fly, and there’s four years of evidence that it translated well to torching college football secondaries after that as well.
“Just people seeing seeing how I run routes in person, see how fast I can run,” Olave said. “I feel like we see it on film. But just to be able to showcase that in front of all the scouts, in front of all the teams — I feel like that’s going to be huge for me this week.”
Chris Olave was right.
And the Ohio State wide receiver left no doubt at the NFL Combine.
