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The NFL Player’s association recently threw some credit towards sophomore New Orleans Saints WR Chris Olave’s name by selecting him for their 2023 Rising Stars Veterans list. Olave is the third receiver on the list behind Garrett Wilson and George Pickens. While the Wilson ranking makes sense and tracks with everything we’ve seen from the last season, Pickens was a surprising name to see above Olave.
Here is the NFLPA’s explanation for their list criteria:
The annual NFLPA Rising Stars list identifies top Rookies and Veterans poised to have breakout seasons, gain fan support and ultimately rank among the top-sellers of all officially licensed player merchandise.
Pickens being included in that list does make more sense when you consider the player merchandise aspect, as Steelers fans have shown a propensity to buy a lot of jerseys. There were three Steelers mentioned in the last top 50 list released by the NFLPA, and no Saints.
However, Olave is coming off an amazing rookie campaign with 72 catches for 1,042 yards and four touchdown receptions. All while playing with some ‘sub-par’ quarterback play all season long. Another season playing at the top of a position could be key in getting Olave up in the jersey sales list and more popular around the league as a whole.
He started to make a push as a rookie, making the PFWA All-Rookie team, but was not able to secure the Rookie of the Year award away from his college teammate Garrett Wilson. Maybe this season, playing with Derek Carr, we could see an even better season from the Ohio State standout.
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