Ja'Marr Chase Fantasy Football Rookie Profile

Looking at the fantasy football outlook for Ja'Marr Chase

Despite growing up in Harvey, Louisiana, roughly 87 miles from Baton Rouge, Ja’Marr Chase was far from a lock when he arrived at LSU. Interestingly enough, he was briefly committed to play for David Beatty and the Kansas Jayhawks but ended up flipping to the University of Florida. After the Gators parted ways with head coach Jim McElwain, Chase decided to reopen his recruitment, eventually landing with the hometown Tigers. The rest was history — literally. Chase would go on to set the college football landscape ablaze, parlaying a historic sophomore season into being likely the first wide receiver off the board come April.

College Production

The glimpses of potential were evident, as Chase flashed great potential during his seven starts as a true freshman, finishing tied for second in receptions (23) with Stephen Sullivan and third in receiving yards (313) behind Sullivan and Justin Jefferson. He saved the best for last, recording six receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl against Central Florida.

Then came his sophomore season.

Chase downright humiliated every defender thrown at him, setting the SEC single-season record for both receiving yards (1,780) and touchdowns (20), and capping it off by winning a national championship. The unanimous First-Team All American and Biletnikoff Award winner decided to opt-out of the 2020 season but rest assured, Chase’s name has been carved into the SEC record books for years to come.

Film Review: Strengths and Weaknesses

Given a player of Chase’s caliber, many things jump off the screen when reviewing the film. Despite him possessing a ton of above-average traits, his body control, ball-tracking ability and consistency at the catch point might be his best traits. He has shown to be comfortable watching passes in, whether deep or intermediate out-breaking routes and his hand technique is almost flawless. Chase is polished from a route-running standpoint, naturally stemming in-breaking routes with an arsenal of stutters and hesitations. Quick slants are almost automatic with him, given his ability to set defenders up. He is always in control of the re-route and does an excellent job making defensive backs guess when they are on his back.

Despite being an extremely smooth athlete, his speed is good, not great. He certainly has enough speed to win vertically if he lands a double-move but he is not necessarily a burner that will run by everyone. Chase can make a player miss in the open field but is not a prospect that can make something out of nothing in the open field. These “flaws” are entirely manageable given his style of play. It should be made clear that Chase is not an entirely flawless prospect as many appear to believe, however, he’s not too far off either.

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