Ja’Marr Chase is off to a historic start in Cincinnati.
The Bengals’ first-round pick is more than living up to the expectations set for a player taken with the No. 5 overall pick. In addition to ranking in the top-5 in receiving yards and touchdowns six games into his first NFL season, he’s now drawing attention from opponents’ No. 1 cornerbacks.
When it happens, it’s usually a sign of respect. And as the Bengals get ready to travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens for the top spot in the AFC North, all eyes remain on Chase.
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Just ask Ravens’ star cornerback Marlon Humphrey who will likely spend much of Sunday’s game covering Chase. Humphrey, Baltimore’s first-round pick in 2017, was given a massive five-year contract in October of 2020 that made him the second-highest paid cornerback in the NFL behind Jalen Ramsey.
“He's really made the NFL look pretty easy,” Humphrey said. “I know it's, of course, a lot better players, but there really hasn't been many speed bumps in the road. It seems like being that Joe [Burrow] and him played in college together, it's not really a new relationship. So, it seems like they're like a fifth-year tandem [and] that they've been doing it for a while. That's kind of how easy it's looked on film.”
Chase is as poised and confident as they come but even he is surprised at how quickly he’s dominated the NFL. Not only is he playing at high level individually, he’s elevated the play of the Bengals’ offense, starting with Burrow.
“I would say yes just because of the year I took off,” Chase said when asked if his quick success comes as a surprise. “Then I guess everyone was trying to put pressure on me with the couple of missed plays I had from the preseason. So basically, yeah and no. I knew I could make plays but I didn’t expect it to be so fast and so often.”
Burrow has four touchdown passes of 30-plus air yards this season which is the most in the NFL. Chase has been at the receiving end of all four of these touchdown passes. To put into perspective why this is a big deal: Burrow had zero completions of that distance that turned into touchdowns in his rookie season.
Chase was one of the most electric players in college football during his run at LSU and there’s no question his familiarity with Burrow has led to their ability to connect on some of these plays.
When the Bengals drafted Chase in April, the hope was he would be the missing piece to an already potent offense with wide receivers Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and running back Joe Mixon already on the roster. Cincinnati needed a player who could take the top off a defense and really stretch the field.
He’s done just that. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Chase is averaging 24 yards per attempt on his deep routes. What Chase can bring from an explosive play standpoint is something the Bengals haven’t had for years and it’s making a world of difference.
“[Ja'Marr] Chase has added a lot of juice to their offense,” Humphrey said. “All the receivers, it seems to me, they've just stepped [it] up a notch and put a lot of weight on their shoulders to run [that] offense. So, they're definitely a new duo there, but [they're] kind of almost like a new, just fully revamped offense.”
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