“I feel like I needed to work on some things,” Olave said last week. “So I came back to try to get in the weight room more, get a lot stronger. Turn into a complete receiver. And try to be NFL-ready Week 1 when I get to that.”
Getting stronger has been a particular point of emphasis this offseason for Olave, who is listed at 6-foot-1 and 189 pounds on Ohio State’s roster. If there’s one area of his game that can be criticized, it’s that he can be outmuscled by defenders at times and has had some issues holding on to the ball, as he had four fumbles last season, two of which were taken away by the other team.
He believes another year in the weight room with Mickey Marotti and his staff, though, will enable him to play with the strength he’ll need to maximize his potential in the NFL.
“That’s one reason why I came back. I feel like I could have gotten a lot stronger in the weight room. Try to play with more strength,” Olave said. “That’s one of the flaws I had in my game last year. But I wanted to come back, work with Coach Mick another year, compete against Garrett (Wilson) and Jameson (Williams) in the offseason. A lot of guys in Zone 6, and I feel like I could get better and be better myself more as a person.”
Another reason why Olave chose to stay at Ohio State for another year, much like fellow NFL prospect Thayer Munford,
was to graduate from the university. After seeing his older brothers Isiah and Josh (who also played college football) get their degrees, that’s important to Chris, too.
“Both my brothers have their degree, so I wanted to get that,” Olave said. “And just being a part of the program, I feel like is huge. I like it here.”
Just sayin': That's always a good reason to stay.....