Ja’Marr Chase goes ahead by 1,500 receiving yards, becoming the first Rookie of the Year leader and one of the NFL’s biggest threats. Watch the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Baltimore Ravens live on the Sky Sports NFL from 6pm on Sunday.
Remember how Ja’Marr Chase couldn’t buy his preseason catch? As they say on Twitter: “They grabbed us in the first half, I’m not going to lie.”
The pre-season buzz chose to focus on watered-down football and a rusty form of withdrawal in 2020, erasing his role as the nation’s leader in gaining yards in the LSU campaign that won the 2019 national championship. Some people never learn.
Since then, he has defeated Journalists, Soft and Press, Man and Zone, as the early rookie of the year and challenger for teammate Justin Jefferson’s record of 1,400 reception yards; Chase already has 41 catches at 553 yards and five touchdowns in six games.
The Bengals could and should have prioritized the protection of their # 1 quarterback, who suffered a serious knee injury when Sewell or Rushon Slater finished fifth overall, while relying on the playmaker products available later in the draft. I could, I had to, I couldn’t.
Instead, they hailed the Tigers’ favorite target Joe Burrow, whose deep threat armed the conventional knockout attack he needed no matter what.
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The era of Ed Orgeron at LSU may be drawing to a close, but the 2019 fireworks display for Burrow and Chase continues.
“Chase has added a lot of juice to their attack,” said Baltimore Ravens defender Marlon Humphrey, who will be tasked with covering the Bengals receiver this weekend. “It was really amazing. He really made the NFL pretty simple. “
The page in the Burrow-Chase textbook was their deep connection down the right sideline: Chase would set people stories on fire, sometimes bracketed reports, and Burrow tossed a penny in a bucket. A piece of yards, “take the chains away, good sir,” thank you so much.
The two brought him back unhindered after the reunion: Chase split corner-back Jerry Jacobs and safe Will Harris for a 34-yard pickup in Sunday’s 34-11 win over the Detroit Lions. The subtlest stutter was enough to sell the internal release, and from that point on, the game was over as Chase absorbed the external shoulder.
