2022 NFL Draft Preview: Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave Set to End First-Round Wide Receiver Drought As Ohio State Looks to Continue Streak of Prolific Drafts

Since Gonzalez was selected with the final pick of the first round in the 2007 NFL draft, Ohio State has had nine first-round defensive backs, five first-round defensive linemen, two first-round quarterbacks, two first-round running backs, two first-round offensive lineman and two first-round linebackers, but no wide receivers selected before Round 2.

Finally, Ohio State appears set to have not just one but two wide receivers selected in Round 1 on Thursday night, when Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave are both projected to be selected in the first round – potentially both in the first half of the first round – of the 2022 NFL draft. And Gonzalez, who was also one of two first-round wide receivers from Ohio State when he followed No. 9 overall pick Ted Ginn in 2007, will be as happy as anyone to see the drought come to an end.

“To be honest, I’m shocked that this is the first time since Ted and I did it,” Gonzalez told Eleven Warriors on Wednesday. “Because I’ve felt that we’ve had some incredible receivers who have gone on to do great things in the NFL. But I’m happy for those guys.

“Had the chance to visit with the team right before training camp last year. I was talking to (Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian) Hartline, he and I have been friends for a long time. And he was the one who actually brought that up. He said, ‘You were the last one to go in the first round.’ I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding, that can’t be true.’ He said, ‘Nah, that’s it. But I think we’ve got some guys here who can do it.’ Looks like he was right.”

For Wilson and Olave, Thursday night will be a reflection of their illustrious Ohio State careers, in which they became two of the most prolific receivers in school history. Wilson is a candidate to be the first wideout drafted after he caught 143 passes for 2,213 yards and 23 touchdowns as a Buckeye, ranking among Ohio State’s top 10 receivers ever in all three categories despite playing only three seasons of college football. Olave is also squarely in the mix to be a top-15 pick after he caught 176 passes for 2,711 yards and a school-record 35 touchdowns over four seasons.

Wilson was always viewed as a potential future first-round pick before he even arrived at Ohio State as a five-star recruit, and Thursday will be the ultimate fulfillment of what he, Brian Hartline and many others always believed he could accomplish as a Buckeye.

“When you put in as much work as I have since a young kid and seeing people fall off in the game and people make it, it’s awesome to be able to say I’m one of the top receivers in this class,” Wilson said during an interview with 97.1 The Fan in December. “I mean, coming into college, all you can dream about and talk about is wanting to go to the NFL. So that was the ultimate goal since day one.”

Olave’s rise to becoming one of Ohio State’s all-time great receivers and now a first-round pick wasn’t quite as foreseen when he arrived at OSU as a three-star recruit in 2018. But his talent quickly became apparent during his freshman year as a Buckeye when he burst onto the scene with a two-touchdown game against Michigan (in which he also blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown), and he got better and better as his Ohio State career progressed, putting him in the position he is now to be one of the top players selected in the NFL draft.

“Growing up, you dream of this. You dream of being in this position today,” Olave said after Ohio State’s pro day. “So it’s a huge opportunity. I'm taking it day by day, trying to cherish it all, not take anything for granted … It’s a dream come true. Grew up watching the draft, watching the combine, watching everybody's pro day and finally being here, it’s a huge blessing, and I gotta take this opportunity and take off with it.”

Olave and Wilson are among 20 draft prospects in Las Vegas who will hear their names called in person and walk across the stage to be introduced to the crowd after they are selected in this year’s NFL draft.

Assuming Wilson and Olave are both selected in Round 1, it would be the seventh time in nine years that Ohio State has had two first-round picks.

None of Ohio State’s other 2022 draft prospects are expected to be drafted in Thursday night’s first round, but at least five other Buckeyes are expected to be selected over the course of the draft’s three days.

If any other Buckeye is going to sneak into the first round, it would likely be offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, who NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero named this week as a potential surprise first-rounder. Most draft projections, however, have Petit-Frere coming off the board in either the second or third round, which means he’ll likely get his call from the league on Friday night.

Even if he has to wait a little longer than Olave and Wilson, Petit-Frere is also about to realize his dream of becoming an NFL player, and he’s expressed gratitude throughout the draft process that he has that opportunity.

“For me, my mindset is, I get this opportunity to reach my dream and play in the NFL. I’m applying for a job to play for one of the best 32 teams in the world,” Petit-Frere said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “For me, all the things that I love about football, just talking ball, meeting people, creating new families, new relationships, it's all happening here. So it's like, it's the best time of my life.”

RELATED 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Projections for Every First-Round Pick and Where Every Ohio State Prospect Will Land

Another Buckeye who’s likely to be selected on the second day of the draft is tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano identified Wednesday as a player “scouts are higher on than you might think.” While Ruckert caught only 54 passes for 615 yards and 12 touchdowns at Ohio State, that was largely a function of being surrounded by receivers like Olave and Wilson in an offense that doesn’t throw to tight ends frequently. He has the potential to be more productive in an NFL offense, which could lead to him being selected in the second or third round on Friday.

Other Buckeyes who could potentially be selected by the end of the night Friday but should at least hear their names called in the later rounds of the draft on Saturday are offensive lineman Thayer Munford, defensive tackle Haskell Garrett and defensive end Tyreke Smith, whose draft projections have ranged from as early as the third round to as late as the seventh round.

While Munford and Garrett were both All-Americans at Ohio State, questions about their athleticism could keep them on the board into the middle or late rounds. Smith looks the part of an NFL edge defender physically, but teams have to project whether he can be more productive at the next level than he was at Ohio State, where he had just seven sacks in four seasons.

As long as all seven of those Buckeyes are selected somewhere within the draft’s seven rounds, however, Ohio State will continue its streak of having at least seven players drafted for the seventh year in a row. Ohio State’s current streak of six consecutive drafts with at least seven picks is the second longest active streak behind only Alabama, which has had at least seven players drafted for 10 straight years (and is also likely to continue that streak this year, with the help of Ohio State transfer wide receiver Jameson Williams, who is projected to join Wilson and Olave in Thursday’s first round).

Four other members of last year’s Ohio State football team will also be hoping to get the call from the league this weekend: Running back Master Teague, defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson, cornerback/wide receiver Demario McCall and wide receiver Chris Booker. While each of them are longer shots to be drafted, all of them believe they are capable of playing in the NFL and should at least get looks as undrafted free agents.

The most likely among them to sneak into a late-round draft choice might be Teague, who saw only limited playing time as Ohio State’s third-string running back in 2021 but is one of the most physically gifted running backs in the draft, as evidenced by his performance at OSU’s pro day where he broke 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash and had a 36-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-11 broad jump and 27 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press at 5-foot-11 and 221 pounds.

“I just do what I can and control what I can control,” Teague said after Ohio State’s pro day. “I guess the teams will look at it and analyze it and figure out for themselves what they think of it. So I can't really dwell too much on those things, but I just know that I did what I could (at pro day) and will continue to work to show that I deserve an opportunity, and I feel like I can help a team for sure.”

Thursday night’s first round of the 2022 NFL draft begins at 8 p.m., while Day 2 of the draft begins Friday at 7 p.m., when the second and third rounds will be held. Rounds 4-7 of the draft will be held Saturday beginning at noon, while many undrafted free agents will agree to deals in the hours following the draft on Saturday evening. All seven rounds of the draft will be televised on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes and will be broadcast on Westwood One Radio, SiriusXM NFL Radio and ESPN Radio.

Ohio State’s coaches will surely be among those watching closely to see where their former players end up, and Ryan Day expects to see many of them have continued success at the next level. 

“The NFL is gonna have some really good Buckeyes coming in next year,” Day said after Ohio State’s pro day. “The feedback that we're getting from a lot of the scouts and the coaches and the GMs is just how well-rounded they are, how well they're doing the interviews, the type of people that they're getting, and that's part of the (former Buckeyes) who are in the NFL now, kind of the blueprint that they've set moving forward, and I think our guys all understand that.”

Stay tuned with Eleven Warriors for full coverage of every Ohio State draft pick and undrafted free agent signing throughout the next three days.