Olamide Zaccheaus: The Undrafted Wide Receiver Who Set an NFL Record on His First Catch
Say the name right first: oh-LAH-mih-day zah-KEE-us. Most people who search for him heard it in a broadcast and are already somewhere between curious and confused. Here is the short version. Olamide David Zaccheaus is a 28-year-old wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons, born July 23, 1997, in Plainfield, New Jersey, the son of Nigerian immigrants, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 199 pounds, and seven years into a professional football career that nobody in the NFL Draft thought would happen at all.
From Plainfield, NJ to the Virginia Cavaliers
He moved to Magnolia, New Jersey at age seven. That detail shows up in almost every profile and nobody explains why it matters, but Camden County New Jersey in the mid-2000s was not exactly a breeding ground for future NFL receivers, and the fact that he ended up at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia says something about how seriously his family took his development. St. Joe’s Prep is a serious football program. It feeds major college programs regularly. Getting there from Magnolia means someone made a deliberate decision.
At the University of Virginia, Zaccheaus took four seasons to become one of the best receivers in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He did not arrive as a star. In 2015, his freshman year, he caught 21 passes for 216 yards in 12 games. By 2018, he was leading the entire ACC with 93 receptions for 1,058 yards and nine touchdowns, and he was named first-team All-ACC. His senior line over the full season read like a player who should have been drafted. He also won MVP of the 2018 Belk Bowl, his last college game, catching 12 passes for 100 yards and three touchdowns.
His full college career: 250 receptions, 2,753 yards, 22 touchdowns, 50 games played. He also carried the ball 79 times for 551 yards, which tells you something about how Virginia used him. The program’s all-time receptions record is his.
Why the NFL Draft passed on him anyway
This is the part that doesn’t add up, at least on the surface. A player who led the ACC in receptions, won a bowl MVP, holds his program’s all-time receiving record, and ran a 4.49 40-yard dash at his pro day goes completely undrafted. Not picked in the seventh round. Not taken as a developmental flyer. Passed over entirely.
The combine measurables tell the story scouts told themselves. He stood 5 feet 8 and a quarter inches at weigh-in, checked in at 188 pounds (he has since added weight), ran the 4.49 with a 1.58-second 10-yard split, put up only 12 reps on the bench press, and had an arm length of 31 inches. None of those numbers are disqualifying individually. Together, they paint a picture of a receiver who does not fit the prototype at all. NFL teams in 2019 were not drafting 5-foot-8 slot receivers with average explosives and modest frame. That bias cost at least a few of them.
His hand size, at 8 and 3/4 inches, came up in pre-draft discussions as a legitimate concern. It is not tiny, but it is not reassuring on a player already undersized by NFL standards. The irony is that his hands became a real problem early in his professional career in a different way: Sports Forecaster’s scouting summary noted that “his hands were an issue coming out of college football, though he has improved in the pros.” The 6 drops PFF charged him with in 2025, on 63 targets, suggests the issue has not entirely gone away.
His rookie season: the record nobody expected
Atlanta signed him on April 27, 2019, as an undrafted free agent. He made the 53-man roster out of training camp, which is not something that happens automatically for UDFAs, and he spent most of his rookie year on special teams.
Then came December 8, 2019. Week 14, Atlanta versus Carolina. The Falcons were winning 40-20 when Matt Ryan threw a short pass near the line of scrimmage and Zaccheaus turned it into a 93-yard touchdown. It was his first NFL reception ever. It was also the third-longest reception in Falcons franchise history, and it set an NFL record that still stands: the longest first catch of any player’s career.
Ryan called it in the postgame, and later that 2021 season, described Zaccheaus this way: “He’s a reliable guy. Very smart. Does a lot of the dirty work for us in the run game, but also has vertical speed to be able to stretch it.” A week later, in Week 15 against San Francisco, Zaccheaus returned a fumble for a touchdown in the closing seconds of a 29-22 win. Two touchdowns in two weeks, in entirely different ways, and he was a rookie who went undrafted three months earlier.
He finished 2019 with three receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown on offense, plus two tackles and a fumble return for a score on special teams.
Four years in Atlanta: the slow build
2020 was fine. He caught 20 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown before going on injured reserve in December. His first 100-yard game came in Week 9 against Denver, four receptions, 103 yards, a score in a 34-27 Atlanta win. Then he got hurt, and that was the season.
2021 was better. Thirty-one receptions, 406 yards, three touchdowns, including a two-touchdown game against New Orleans in Week 8 where he caught three passes for 58 yards. The Falcons won 27-25. He was becoming a real option in the offense, not just depth.
2022 was his best year in Atlanta. He played all 17 games, started 13, and finished with 40 receptions for 533 yards and three touchdowns. He ranked second on the team in all three receiving categories, behind only first-round pick Drake London. His per-reception average of 13.3 yards told you he was not just a check-down receiver. Atlanta placed a restricted free agent tender on him that offseason, which meant they valued him enough to make it expensive for another team to sign him. He re-signed under the right-of-first-refusal tender worth $2.4 million.
The year in Philadelphia that almost nobody wants to talk about
He signed with the Eagles on a one-year deal in April 2023. The Eagles that year had A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Quez Watkins ahead of him. He caught 10 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games. During one seven-game stretch, he had four catches for 29 yards total. NBC Sports Philadelphia noted, accurately, that in his last 14 games of the season he had as many catches of 25-plus yards on throws from punter Braden Mann as from Jalen Hurts. That is a brutal sentence to have written about you.
The honest read: Philadelphia’s offensive design had no real role for him. He was the fourth receiver on a team that ran a two-receiver heavy offense. He did not fail; he was simply miscast. The production looks bad in a box score, but context matters, and the Commanders clearly thought so when they came calling that spring.
Washington 2024: reuniting with Dan Quinn
He signed with the Commanders on April 1, 2024, on a one-year deal worth $1.275 million. The reunion with Dan Quinn mattered. Quinn had been Zaccheaus’s head coach for his first two seasons in Atlanta (2019 and 2020), and the familiarity showed. Kliff Kingsbury, the offensive coordinator, was enthusiastic in training camp. “His ability to really play inside, outside, know the entire system and be dogged in blocking,” Kingsbury said, calling him a player who “answers the bell on every snap.”
Jayden Daniels was the rookie quarterback. Zaccheaus became one of his first reliable targets. He finished with 45 receptions for 506 yards and three touchdowns, his best numbers since 2022, and contributed on special teams with 17 punt returns for 179 yards, a 10.5-yard average that ranked second in the NFC among qualified returners. In the playoffs, he contributed seven catches for 45 yards across three games as Washington reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991. He caught a two-point conversion from Daniels in the wild NFC Championship loss to Philadelphia, cutting the lead to 34-23 in a game the Commanders ultimately lost 55-23.
Chicago 2025: decent numbers, complicated season
He signed with the Bears for one year ahead of the 2025 season. The pitch worked: he admired what head coach Ben Johnson had done with Detroit’s offense, and Chicago was selling the Caleb Williams development story. He caught 39 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns on 65 targets, including a 36-yard touchdown pass from Williams in a Week 9 game against Buffalo.
PFF graded him at 54.8 overall, ranking 76th among 81 qualified wide receivers. His receiving grade was 55.4, also 76th. He dropped 6 passes on the year. His average depth of target was 7.4 yards, confirming what he is: a short-to-intermediate slot receiver who produces through volume and yards after catch, not through contested catches down the field. He generated 144 yards after the catch in 2025, which is not nothing, but the 60.0 catch rate on 65 targets is underwhelming and the drop count is a recurring problem that the PFF grades have now flagged in two straight seasons.
Back in Atlanta: the $4.5 million homecoming
On March 17, 2026, the Falcons made it official. Zaccheaus signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal including a $1 million signing bonus and $2.3 million guaranteed, per Spotrac. His annual average of $2.25 million is modest by NFL standards, but for a 28-year-old receiver on his fifth team, a two-year commitment from the franchise where his career started carries real meaning.
The Falcons receiver room now includes Drake London as WR1, newly signed Jahan Dotson, and Zaccheaus in a WR3/slot role under new head coach Kevin Stefanski. The realistic expectation is somewhere around 35-45 receptions, 400-500 yards, and 2-3 touchdowns if healthy and targeted consistently. That is his range. He is not going to become a different player at 28.
What kind of player he actually is
He has lined up in the slot for 836 career snaps and out wide for 805, per Pro Football Focus. In practice, he operates primarily from the slot but can align anywhere across the formation, including at X and Z. Arthur Smith, who coached him in Atlanta for three seasons, put it directly: “He’s even got the capability to play emergency quarterback.” That is not a compliment you give a receiver who just knows one spot on the field.
His value is real but specific. He finds soft spots in zone coverage. He releases quickly off the line for his size. He blocks at the perimeter without complaining about it, which sounds like a small thing until you watch an NFL game and realize how many receivers won’t do it. His punt return work is genuinely good, not just decent: the 10.5-yard average with Washington in 2024 is a real number for a legitimate returner.
Where it gets complicated: the hands. He holds the NFL record for the longest first career reception, a 93-yard catch in 2019. He also dropped 6 passes in 2025 on 65 targets. Both things are true. The catch that made him famous required him to do almost nothing with his hands (the ball hit him in stride on a short throw), while the precision catches in traffic, where hand size and grip genuinely matter, are where his limitations show. Six drops in a season is a real number. That’s not a fluke, and the Bears’ coaching staff noticed by the end of the year.
Career statistics
His career NFL numbers as of the end of the 2025 season:
2019 (Atlanta): 10 games, 3 receptions, 115 yards, 1 touchdown. 2020 (Atlanta): 11 games, 20 receptions, 274 yards, 1 touchdown. 2021 (Atlanta): 16 games, 31 receptions, 406 yards, 3 touchdowns. 2022 (Atlanta): 17 games, 40 receptions, 533 yards, 3 touchdowns. 2023 (Philadelphia): 17 games, 10 receptions, 164 yards, 2 touchdowns. 2024 (Washington): 16 games, 45 receptions, 506 yards, 3 touchdowns. 2025 (Chicago): 16 games, 39 receptions, 313 yards, 2 touchdowns.
Career totals: 103 games, 188 receptions, 2,311 receiving yards, 15 touchdowns. He also carries the ball occasionally. Four carries in 2025 produced 25 yards. He has 20 career punt returns for a 10.8 average.
Personal life and background
His parents are Nigerian immigrants. He was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, moved to Magnolia in Camden County at age seven, and attended St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia for high school. He graduated from the University of Virginia, where his Instagram bio still reads “UVa Alum” and his handle is @llamaday with 53,000 followers. He keeps his personal life private. There are no public records of a spouse or children. Net worth estimates across various sources range from $2 million to $4 million, and the new two-year Falcons deal at $4.5 million guaranteed pushes that number upward regardless of which estimate you started with.
He has not been involved in any public controversy across seven NFL seasons, which is unremarkable until you consider that he has played for five different franchises, been released or allowed to walk in free agency four times, and never once generated a negative headline about his attitude, effort, or professionalism. Coaches talk about him the same way everywhere he goes. That kind of consistency across organizations is its own data point.
Fantasy football reality check
His 2022 season in Atlanta (40 catches, 533 yards, 3 TDs) is the best-case scenario. His 2023 season in Philadelphia (10 catches in 17 games) is the worst case. Neither extreme is the realistic base case for 2026.
In a PPR league, Zaccheaus is a waiver-wire asset and situational starter. His 7.4-yard average depth of target in 2025 means his fantasy value lives and dies on volume, not the kind of explosive play upside that produces 20-point weeks. If Drake London misses time and Dotson is slow to establish himself, Zaccheaus could see 50-55 targets and finish as a borderline WR3. If both of those guys are healthy, he is a flex play in favorable matchups and a bench stash otherwise. In standard scoring, he is barely relevant unless he scores.
His 60.0 catch rate in 2025 (39 catches on 65 targets) is the number that should concern fantasy managers most. A slot receiver who misses 40 percent of his targets is not sustainable as a PPR contributor regardless of how many routes he runs.
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