Tag: Ja’Marr Chase

Expert believes Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase will be top-five WR quickly

Big hype chases Ja’Marr Chase into his rookie season with the Bengals.

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Much has been written about the Cincinnati Bengals electing to take LSU wideout Ja’Marr Chase over offensive line help in the 2021 NFL draft — and not all of it glowing.

But the farther away we get from the draft itself, the more we tend to see people coming around to the idea of reuniting Chase with Joe Burrow.

On a recent episode of ESPN’s “Get Up,” for example, Mike Greenberg hit all the big talking points while suggesting Chase is on the fast track to being a top-five wideout in the NFL:

“(ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum) took Justin Jefferson (as his pick). He was the second-best player on his own college team a couple of years ago, behind Ja’Marr Chase. The rookie, who that year – at the age of 19 – playing with (Bengals quarterback) Joe Burrow – who will be his quarterback in Cincinnati – became the only college receiver ever with 20 touchdowns and 20 yards per catch in any season. Did I mention he was 19 years old when he did that? The world has forgotten how good he is because he opted out of last season. But he is going to be spectacular. He’s reunited with his college quarterback. I think Ja’Marr Chase is going to hit the league by storm.”

And we’ve beat that drum for a while now — Chase wasn’t even 20 years old when he did his damage alongside Burrow in the SEC. His teammate, Justin Jefferson, was elite quickly in Minnesota with the Vikings, yet one could argue Chase was the better prospect.

These talking points are a big part of the reason the Bengals were so content to reunite Chase with Burrow, especially in the same offense as Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.

Granted, a lot has to go right for Chase to become a top-five player at his position so soon. But does anybody really want to start doubting him now?

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