Standout wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had the best rookie season for a receiver in NFL history. It was a marvel to watch as he gained confidence almost each and every week.
Chase ended the season with two 200-yard games. Including the playoffs, Chase had 7 games in which he topped triple-digit yardage.
There were a plethora of other eye-popping numbers that Chase accomplished, and that success continued into the postseason as he continued to dominate as the Bengals made a run to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1980s.
The standard has been set, but Chase isn’t here to just hit that level again this coming season.
He’s set to catch 10,000 balls this offseason, hopefully enhancing his on-field performance, per Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson.
“Chase, coming off the greatest season a rookie wide receiver ever had in the NFL, held court in front of his locker and talked how he was going to start his encore season catching 10,000 footballs this offseason,” Hobson wrote.
While he clearly wants the volume in how often he’s catching the footballs, Chase also knows some of the specifics he will have to work on.
“This year, what I’ve been working on the most is just staying low on my releases. And trying to overemphasize the head fakes with the shoulders and eyes and stuff like that so they don’t jump all over my body,” Chase said.
Chase totaled 1,455 on 81 receptions on 128 targets this past season. With the Bengals returning their core four offensive weapons to surround superstar Joe Burrow while also building up their offensive line, things are trending up in the Queen City, and Chase working to improve his craft just brings more hope to Cincinnati.
