Chris Olave Opts Out of the Rose Bowl, Declares for 2022 NFL Draft

The record-setting Buckeye wideout has played his final game in scarlet and gray, as Ryan Day announced Monday that Olave is one of four players opting out of playing in the Rose Bowl, along with Garrett Wilson, Nicholas Petit-Frere and Haskell Garrett. Olave is widely projected to be a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft.

Thank You Buckeye Nation, Love Forever! pic.twitter.com/Bck0Sya5gs

— Chris Olave (@chrisolave_) December 28, 2021

A first-team All-Big Ten selection this season, Olave led the team with 13 receiving touchdowns and was third with 65 catches and 936 yards through the air. Olave hauled in at least 100 yards in five different games this season, including four of the first five to start out the year, and he caught two touchdown passes in four separate contests as well.

Olave set the program record for career receiving touchdowns in his final home game at Ohio Stadium against Michigan State, catching the 34th and 35th of his collegiate tenure to pass former Buckeye wideout David Boston. Olave’s 13th score of the season also tied Boston’s 1998 campaign for the third-most in a single-season for the Buckeyes.

Only Boston and K.J. Hill have caught more passes in a Buckeye uniform, as Olave finishes his Ohio State career with 176 receptions, and his 2,711 career receiving yards are sixth-most in Ohio State history.

Olave won three Big Ten Championships with the Buckeyes from 2018 through 2020, helping Ohio State reach the College Football Playoff in each of the past two seasons. Olave was instrumental in sending the Buckeyes to the national championship game in 2020, as he caught six passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns against Clemson in last year’s Sugar Bowl.

While Olave may have already been a first-round pick in 2021, the California native opted to return to Ohio State for a senior season. Now though, Olave has opted to end his college career prior to the Buckeyes’ Rose Bowl matchup with Utah on Jan. 1.