Where will Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave go in the NFL Draft?

With the Super Bowl less than a week away, it is a distinct possibility that if you are an Ohio State fan reading this, that your team just might be playing in it (Who Dey?!). However, there are 30 other teams that aren’t so lucky, such as my unfortunate Jets. Therefore, it is time to look ahead to the future for former Buckeyes looking to make the jump to the next level; starting with the dynamic wide receiver duo of Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave.

Wilson is a top five pick in my opinion, however, I think it is fairly safe to say that most experts would agree that he will be taken in the top 10. It will be interesting to see what receiver will be taken first. A month ago, it would have been a fun discussion between Wilson and former teammate Jameson Williams, unfortunately I think that Williams’ ACL injury will impact his draft stock and Wilson will be the first receiver off the board.

I honestly believe that Wilson could be picked No. 4 overall by my Jets. Two disclaimers: I am using a lot of “think” and “possibly” because not a single person can correctly predict how the draft will go. Secondly, I am a Jets fan, so I would be EXTREMELY happy with this pick, yet I really do feel that it is a real possibility.

The Jets need receivers. Badly. Quarterback Zach Wilson did struggle during his rookie season, but his receivers failed him just as much as he failed them. There is no true No. 1 — Elijah Moore only played in 11 games, yet led the team in receiving yards, with 538. It seemed like QB Wilson didn’t have chemistry with any of his receivers, but WR Wilson could change all of that.

Wishfully thinking, I could see Wilson² (Garrett needs to go to the Jets solely for the Wilson to Wilson connection) being the next Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase combo. The Jets don't have a great offensive line, but Wilson’s speed could help mitigate that problem to a degree.

Another way that Wilson would help the Jets is by lessening the amount of dropped passes. The Jets came in at No. 5 in the league in drops with 25. Wilson only dropped five passes the whole 2021-22 season. He would definitely be a huge help to the stumbling Jets offense.

Moving on to Olave, this one is more of a “beautiful mystery,” as Aaron Rodgers would say. There is a good amount of teams in the top 20 that need receivers. This includes the Falcons, Eagles, WFT (now the Commanders, I guess), Chargers and Saints. Yet, I’m going to predict that Olave will go No. 21 overall to the Patriots.

Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

If Olave gets selected by the Pats, I feel that it will be reminiscent of the 2018 Ohio State season, where Dwayne Haskins connected with him a few glorious times. Mac Jones has a similar style of play to Haskins — kind of a Big Ben physicality and a Philip Rivers gunslinger of an arm.

Jones has great accuracy and is able to make deep-ball passes. Olave can make plays anywhere on the field, but he specializes on the deep ball. He is a great route runner, and Jones can work under pressure. Therefore, these two could make some true magic happen.

The Pats’ wide receiver room isn’t completely deflated (pun intended), with Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne leading the team with 866 and 800 yards respectively. They also have a solid tight end in Hunter Henry. However, just like Wilson, I think that Olave could become the team’s best receiver pretty quickly.

Any place that these guys end up, I am confident that they are going to succeed. They rewrote the history books at Ohio State and I don’t see why they couldn’t do something similar in the pros. They’re definitely going to be missed as Buckeyes, but I cannot wait to see who they succeed with in the NFL.