Could Olave win OPOY this season?
By: Jake Rajala
The NFL Offensive Player of the Year award is a remarkable achievement. The MVP award usually goes out to quarterbacks. Well, the OPOY award is more wide open. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is a WR, won the award last season. Heck, let’s not forget that former Saints WR Michael Thomas won the award. With that said, I believe there is another Saints WR that could win the award: Chris Olave.
Olave is second in receiving yards, which is right behind Jaxon. To make matters better for Olave, he plays a QB in Tyler Shough, who slings the ball the entire game. They live and die by the Shough’s arm. Olave was second team All-Pro last season. A step up from last season, should spell first team All-Pro honors, at the very least.
The Saints don’t have Jordyn Tyson right now, which means more targets for Olave. Tyson will likely not be back in the next few weeks.
With that all said, I would like to see the Saints give Olave more chances in the red-zone. We see fades and quick slants to DeVaughn Vele, but Olave could also win with quickness in the end-zone. Olave doesn’t need to be overly muscular, to score points for his team.
Another drawback against Olave is that he has failed to help his team get a lot of wins. The Saints sit at 1-4, which is one of the worst records in the league. I can’t say that I want to see him wreak havoc in prime-time, because they only have one prime-time game and it’s in the rear-view window. To put it simply, they got blown out of the building.
Assuming Olave stays on his path and does well, but doesn’t play like Randy Moss, or Calvin Johnson, a question begs to ask: who are the other candidates? There are a few running backs (Kenneth Walker, Jahmyr Gibbsm and Bijan Robinson) who could win the award. Right now, I don’t believe there’s a QB that should win OPOY.
Olave is a rare, gifted WR. It’s not common to see someone gifted off the line of scrimmage and with deep routes, too. He has the potential to be one of the best Saints WRs of all time.
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