The New Orleans Saints surprised a lot of people when they used the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave. It wasn’t the fact that they picked a wide receiver which was surprising, as they were widely expected to add a pass catcher to their roster one way or another this offseason. It was that they picked Olave where they did.

The Saints made a huge trade with the Philadelphia Eagles to move up the board and many expected it would be for a quarterback. Instead, they added the playmaking Olave, making him the third wide receiver off the board after Drake London went No. 8 and his Ohio St. teammate Garrett Wilson went No. 10.

All of the naysayers who believed that the Saints selected Olave a little too early have been proven wrong thus far. He is currently leading the rookie class in receptions and yardage with 60 catches for 887 yards. The receptions are tied for 21st in the league with Zay Jones and Tee Higgins while the yardage puts him in 10th.

One thing that has stood out about Olave’s performance is his consistency. As shared by NFL on CBS, Olave has recorded 40+ yards in each of his first 12 games in the league. That makes him only the second player to do that since 1970, joining his teammate and fellow Buckeye, Michael Thomas.

Thomas, who was a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, recorded 40+ yards in the first 19 games of his career in a row. The first time that he failed to do so was in Week 6 of the 2017 season against the Detroit Lions when he caught only three passes for 11 yards. In 73 career games, Thomas has failed to reach the 40-yard mark only six times.

The Saints certainly hope that Chris Olave is just as productive as long as he remains with the franchise. He has a very bright future and had Thomas been able to remain healthy, the two would have created a strong trio along with veteran Jarvis Landry this season. But, New Orleans can rest easy knowing they have a bonafide No. 1 receiver on their hands in Olave.