INDIANAPOLIS — It’s a dream scenario that makes way too much sense: Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave is available with the No. 39 overall pick and the Bears pair him with his former college quarterback, Justin Fields.
And it’s something Olave would welcome.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said Wednesday at the NFL Combine. “Having him in college as my quarterback, I know what he can do on-and-off the field and I know how hard he works. I feel like we're very similar in ways and I feel like we can complement each other if we do end up on the same team.”
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The tape from Ohio State backs that up. They were a deadly duo, with Olave racking up 98 catches for 1,569 yards and 19 touchdowns in 20 games with Fields as his quarterback.
The Bears need a wide receiver like Olave, but recreating a Joe Burrow-Ja’Marr Chase situation in Chicago won’t be easy because it might require trading up to select Olave. With only five picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, that seems unlikely.
Perhaps Olave falls to the Bears at No. 39, but that might be determined by how well he performs at this week’s NFL Combine. He said Wednesday he intends on doing all the drills and workouts in Indianapolis. Olave knows his 40-time and agility drills will be important, and he witnessed Fields go through it at Ohio State’s Pro Day last year after the 2021 NFL Combine was canceled.
“I thought he was going to run a fast 4.3, but he ended up running 4.4,” Olave said. “He slipped at his start so I gotta put that in there.”
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On draft night, Fields fell out of the top 10 and the Bears were able to trade up to select him at No. 11. They’ll probably need some similar fortune if they hope to land Olave too.
"Justin is a great player, great dude and I can't wait see his career take off,” Olave said.