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The Cincinnati Bengals were going to need a fumble of historic proportions to earn a poor grade with the fifth pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
Ja’Marr Chase certainly isn’t a fumble.
Rather, he’s an elite boundary wideout prospect who would boost pretty much any team in the NFL, let alone a Bengals squad that just so happens to have his college quarterback, Joe Burrow, sitting under center.
With Burrow directing the LSU offense in 2019 to a title, Chase threw out 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns. He didn’t play in 2020, but the fact he did that to the SEC at 19 years old was…something else.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein even admitted the negatives on Chase are quite minimal — while comparing him to the legendary Torry Holt:
“We could sit here and talk about the marginal route-running issues or challenges getting off press. However, Chase is supremely talented as a ball winner and playmaker. After all, routes and release can be coached. He had some issues when Trevon Diggs and Cameron Dantzler gave hard jams to his release in 2019, so that will need to be addressed. His burst is effortless, which tends to catch coverage off guard when he really hits the vertical gas. His competitive nature and play strength simply act as multipliers for his outstanding ball skills. He hasn’t played football since very early in 2020 and still has work to do, but he should be an early starter and a future Pro Bowler.”
Folks don’t throw out those sorts of comparisons often. Chase is one of the surest things we’ve seen at wideout in a long time and his pairing with Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins just made too much sense to pass up. Not only do the Bengals run more three-wideout sets than most, they project to have Joe Mixon in the backfield healthy next year — and Chase’s presence means they can’t press or stack the box anymore.
Detractors, if there are any, will point out the Bengals didn’t address the offensive line that got Joe Burrow hurt last year. Penei Sewell fell to seventh with Detroit shortly after the pick. But with Riley Reiff aboard and two picks on Friday to get whoever falls to them in the second and third rounds, the reality is they could easily find a starting-caliber guard still.
And yes, the Bengals could have probably opted out of the pick and gained a groundswell of future-minded assets in the process by trading down. Truthfully, that would have been something of an A move too.
But the Bengals instead chose to embrace a potential superstar at a premium spot, which is just what a team should do with a top-five pick.
Realistically, the Bengals would have received an A for trading down and an A for Sewell too. But Chase’s connection with Burrow is hard to undersell here as an important point, nudging it into special territory.
Grade: A+
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