AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting breakdown:
5 points for 1st; 3 points for 2nd; 1 point for 3rd.
First-place votes:
1. Garrett Wilson – 18
2. Kenneth Walker III – 19
3. Brock Purdy – 6
4. Chris Olave – 5
5. Tyler Allgeier – 1
8. Tyler Linderbaum – 1 pic.twitter.com/4xkShFmpwy— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 10, 2023
So that’s frustrating. Chris Olave was outstanding in his New Orleans Saints rookie year — he led the team with 72 receptions for 1,042 yards and 4 touchdown catches in 2022, which ranked high among the league’s first-year players. But it wasn’t enough for Olave to win recognition as the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year at Thursday night’s NFL Honors awards ceremony. That belongs to his old college teammate Garrett Wilson.
For his part, Olave isn’t bitter. He quickly congratulated his friend on that accomplishment. It’s still frustrating to run the numbers and see that Olave gained more yards per catch (14.5) and yards per game (69.5) than Wilson while catching a higher percentage of his targets (60.5%) and dealing with a similarly-inept quarterback situation. Still, the AP voters should have done a better job evaluating rookie performances around the league.
Just 5 of the 50 ballots had Olave in first-place. He received 6 second-place votes and 7 third-place votes. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy received more first-place votes than Olave (6) while only suiting up for 9 regular-season games. It’s wild that more than half of the AP voting pool left Olave off their ballots altogether. But it can’t be helped. Let’s see what kind of heights Olave chases in 2023 after setting such a high bar for himself in 2022.