Chris Olave, a wide receiver with the New Orleans Saints, had an outstanding sophomore season, catching 87 passes for 1,123 yards and five scores.
However, Olave believes he can take another step to improve his game.
“Really everywhere,” Olave stated on NFL Network, according Eric Edholm of NFL.com. “Going into the summer knowing that (the Saints) believe in me as Receiver 1, I’m eager to get to work. But I’m just trying to take the next step and progress from a good to an outstanding player. So just trying to be consistent every day and put in the effort to be one of the best receivers in the game.”
Olave has established himself as the Saints’ top receiver, forming an outstanding tandem alongside Rashid Shaheed. However, it didn’t lead to much team success for New Orleans in 2023, as the Saints finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs.
New Orleans has failed to make the playoffs in both of Olave’s first two seasons, but the wide receiver hopes things will change in 2024.
“The standards are always high,” Olave explained. “The expectations are always high. We didn’t live up to those expectations the first two years, but as I previously stated, the building’s standard and expectation is to always make the playoffs and do some work in the playoffs.
The Saints came close last season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the NFC South last season, although they also finished 9-8. The distinction was that they had the tiebreaker over the Saints.
So, at least New Orleans knows it’s not far away.
The Saints’ dilemma is that they had a terrible salary cap position, thus they were unable to make any substantial upgrades this summer.
They were able to get edge rusher Chase Young in free agency, but they didn’t accomplish much else.
But Olave hopes New Orleans has enough for a happier conclusion this time.
“This year, we’re holding ourselves accountable every day and trying to stay consistent with that,” he stated. “It always begins about this time to be able to shine during December, January, and February. I’m glad we’re doing the work now.”
We’ll see if the Saints can beat the Buccaneers and the emerging Atlanta Falcons to return to the postseason in 2024.
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