Following the New Orleans Saints’ loss to the Miami Dolphins, WDSU anchor Fletcher Mackel and analyst James Hurst debated on their post-game show whether Chris Olave should have caught the ball on a pivotal play near the end of Sunday’s defeat.

It was second-and-1 with 44 seconds left when quarterback Tyler Shough took a deep shot to the wide receiver near the pylon. As the ball closed in, with two defenders trailing, Dolphins cornerback Jack Jones slipped and fell right in front of Olave — but the wide receiver couldn’t haul it in. Slow-motion replays showed the pass hit a jumping Olave right off his hands and arm. A catch would have given the Saints a lead — and the likely win.

“If you’re elite, I feel like you come down with that and you’re a hero,” Mackel said.

“Absolutely,” added Hurst, a former Saints offensive lineman who was once teammates with Olave. “If you’re the Wide Receiver 1 (WR1) on any football team in the NFL, you catch that pass.”

The banter could easily be dismissed as the kind of fodder that almost every media member, including this one, is guilty of. But the discussion further raises a key question about Olave, one that truly matters as the Saints look to negotiate a long-term contract extension with the 25-year-old.

Is Olave really a WR1?

Olave has undoubtedly enjoyed a bounce-back season, largely fending off concerns about his health even as he missed practice Wednesday with a back injury. The 2022 first-round pick leads the Saints with 73 catches, 785 yards and five touchdowns, putting him on pace to top 1,000 yards for the third time in four seasons. He has avoided suffering another concussion.

And yet, determining if Olave is a star — and whether he’s capable of becoming one — isn’t an easy call.

There are times when Olave, who is under contract through 2026, looks the part. His speed is top-tier. He’s effective whether outside or in the slot. He’s a smooth route runner who earns a ton of targets.

But Olave is only 15th in receiving yards, despite having the third-most targets. He has arguably not taken over games like Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase or any of the league’s other top wideouts.

Sunday’s missed connection in the end zone could have been the chance to change that. 

“There’s nothing easy catching it between guys,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “Obviously, he’d love to make that catch. These things hurt for everyone when we have opportunities in games. Obviously, we had an opportunity there, but we had a couple more opportunities in that game. Certainly (after) it, we had two more opportunities to convert and extend that drive.”

According to Next Gen Stats, Shough’s throw to Olave had an expected completion percentage of 30.1% — which would seemingly back up Moore’s assertion that the catch was indeed “nothing easy.”

But in his conversation with Mackel, Hurst also said that Olave would likely be the first one to admit he needed to come down with the ball. There’s also an expectation for a team’s best players to deliver in the clutch. Remember the flak that Juwan Johnson got for not securing a potential game-winning touchdown in New Orleans’ season opener? People pointed to Johnson’s new three-year, $30 million contract as a reason for him to come down with it, despite the pass only having a completion probability of 14.7%.

If the Saints pay Olave a new contract, the wide receiver may make more per year than the total value of Johnson’s deal. The going rate for top receivers these days is in the $30 million range, with nine reaching that threshold, according to Over The Cap.

“We’ve been having (contract) conversations since the beginning of the year,” Olave said in October after facing the Bears. “Like I said at the beginning of the year, I feel like I got to prove that I’m that type of player.”

The Bears game, with a five-catch, 98-yard performance, was one of Olave’s best outings of the season. He was again outstanding just a few weeks later when he hauled in five catches for 104 yards in a win over the Carolina Panthers, a game that included a career-long 62-yard score. Lost in the debate over his star-or-not status, Olave is very much a valuable player.

But maybe that value is best served as a compliment, similar to how Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins and Philadelphia’s DeVonta Smith remain dynamic threats alongside Chase and A.J. Brown.

If that’s the case, the Saints would need to add somebody else, likely through the draft.

That’s a debate for another time.