Get to Know New Bengals Wide Receiver Ja'Marr Chase

The 21-year-old is impressive

From one tiger to the next, Ja’Marr Chase is Cincinnati bound.

The Louisiana State University product is one of the top receivers in Tiger history, despite only playing two collegiate seasons.

Chase brings speed, explosiveness, strong hands, and a great work ethic to the Bengals’ receiving corps.

He opted out of the 2020 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chase won the Biletnikoff Award, college football’s most outstanding receiver honor in 2019. He was also a unanimous All-American as a sophomore.

Joe Burrow found Chase 84 times for an SEC record 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns during the Tigers’ National Championship season.

He finished his LSU career with 98 catches for 2,093 yards, and 23 scores. Chase is the first player the university’s history to pass the 2,000-yard mark in his first two seasons. The LSU star had eight 100-yard receiving games and three 200-yard games. 

Prior to opting out of the 2020 season, Chase was selected to wear LSU’s coveted number seven jersey. This jersey number is given to a player who exemplifies greatness and is a symbol of LSU royalty.

Patrick Peterson pioneered the jersey number honor as one of the most prolific players in program history. Tyrann Mathieu, Leonard Fournette, D.J. Chark, Jonathan Giles, Grant Delpit, and Chase are the only other players to have the privilege to wear the number seven following Peterson’s reign.

Chase was a four-star prospect and one of the top-rated players in the state of Louisiana for the Class of 2018. The New Orleans native was undecided on his college decision weeks leading up to signing day.

Ed Orgeron, LSU’s head coach, brought a number of his coaches on staff to Chase’s home for a visit for one last commitment push prior to signing day in 2018. The home visit exceeded all expectations of Chase and his family, ultimately laying the foundation for his standout career in purple and gold. 

The college football star is expected to make the NFL transition and become one of the league's next stars, despite not not playing football in 2020.

Chase produced eye-catching numbers at his pro day.

Pro Day Measurements

Height: 6-0 3/8

Weight: 201

Hand: 9 5/8

Arm: 30 3/4

Wingspan: 74 7/8

Bench Press: 23 reps (from past video, not actual pro day result)

40-yard dash: 4.38 seconds

Vertical Jump: 41 inches

Broad Jump: 11 feet

3 Cone Drill: 7.00

20 Yd Shuttle: 3.98

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Chase will make an immediate impact with his speed and ability to create separation. In 2020, A.J. Green (1.7 yards), Tee Higgins (2.5 yards), and Tyler Boyd (2.7 yards) averaged less than three yards of separation from their defender.

The ability to separate from defenders will give Burrow the ability to get the ball out faster in the pocket and keep him upright.

The 21-year-old is an extremely hard worker.

“Those three guys [Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Terrace Marshall] got together in the time they could work just individually and got out the jugs gun and they upped the velocity on the footballs and they took 10,000 passes over the course of the [2019] summer," LSU radio voice Chris Blair told Dan Hoard during a recent appearance on the Bengals Booth Podcast. "It was an attempt to make sure that if the ball was within grasp, they had a good chance of hauling it in. When you look at how that translated, No. 1 to Joe Burrow's accuracy, No. 2 to the number of catches and touchdowns and yards that Ja'Marr Chase had along with Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall—it kinda set the bar now for LSU receivers." 

Chase understands what it takes to work your way to the top to be the best.

"When you talk about looking at him coming out of high school one of the top prospects in the state of Louisiana a couple of years ago, rated a four star prospect. His work ethic took him from being a four star, which again is very, very good—to being the top of the class and a Biletnikoff winner," Blair said. "It's a lot in the same conversation you and I had about Joe Burrow. His approach to the game and the preparation for the game has been pro-like really since 2018. And certainly he ramped that up in 2019. He kinda was the architect of the summer of 10,000 passes ... Ten years from now when they're talking about the summer of 10,000 passes everybody can thank Ja'Marr Chase. He's kinda the father of that." 

Zac Taylor and company have targeted high football IQ players and leaders. Chase fits that mold perfectly.

The sky is the limit for Chase in Cincinnati. He’s reunited with his college quarterback and put into an offense that will allow him to shine on the next level.

Welcome to the NFL, Ja’Marr Chase. Cincinnati welcomes you home!

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