There aren’t many players more important to the New Orleans Saints’ success than Chris Olave. The former Ohio State Buckeyes standout is going into his third season with the Saints, and while he’s pleased with the positive growth in his game, he has higher expectations. He wants to bring New Orleans a championship.
And he knows he has a chance to do it in his own backyard. When discussing his goals for 2024, Olave made his ambitions crystal-clear.
“Super Bowl, baby,” Olave told Bleacher Report’s Scott Polacek. “And it’s in New Orleans.”
Next year’s Super Bowl LIX will be played at the Caesars Superdome and Olave knows how meaningful it would be to bring the city a title on their home turf. It’s been done only twice in the 58-year history of the championship game, but both instances were recent: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did it in Super Bowl LV and the Los Angeles Rams repeated the feat in Super Bowl LVI.
And more impressive games from Olave will help the team go the distance. Olave improved on all of his numbers in his second season with the Saints — he played in more games (16 over 15), drew more targets (138 over 119), aught more passes (87 over 72), gained more yards (1,123 over 1,042) and scored more touchdowns (5 over 4) while picking up more first downs (57 over 48).
His catch rate increased with Derek Carr throwing to him instead of Andy Dalton (63.0% over 60.5%) and he averaged more catches and yards per game, becoming a more well-rounded threat with 12.9 yards per catch over 14.5 in his rookie year. His average depth of target fell from 14.2 yards to 13.3, but he gained a full yard more per reception after the catch.
And he’s pleased with that development, reflecting on his second season: “It went really well. The first goal is always winning, but just as a personal season it went well. I feel like I can maximize my potential a bit more, but I had great teammates and great coaches around me. I’m excited to keep growing and keep moving forward.”
The Saints are going to ask a lot of him in 2024. Olave is going to draw even more targets with Michael Thomas expected to be released into free agency in March. His fellow third-year wideout Rashid Shaheed will return as an exclusive-rights free agent, and second-year draft pick A.T. Perry made some great plays down the stretch in 2023. It’ll take all of them to get New Orleans to the Super Bowl this time next year.
