Cincinnati Bengals roster: 3 Reasonable expectations for Ja’Marr Chase

Cincinnati Bengals fans are already imagining the possibilities.

It’s amazing how things change so quickly. It wasn’t even a month before the 2021 NFL Draft when everyone’s mock draft began shifting in another direction. You see, prior to April, much of the discussion was about Joe Burrow and how impressive he was in year one before that late-season injury derailed everything.

The obvious choice for the Bengals at the fifth-overall selection was to take Penei Sewell out of Oregon to ensure that Burrow’s blindside was protected for years to come, right? It made perfect sense.

Then, things changed. People started asking what would happen if Burrow was given a weapon. A.J. Green’s long run as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals was over, and one of the more interesting narratives was what would happen if QB1 was reunited with his WR1 from the LSU days, one Ja’Marr Chase. There isn’t a Bengals fan on Planet Earth that doesn’t know how that wound up.

Chase is in Cincy. Sewell was taken by the Detroit Lions two picks later, and here we are, imagining those possibilities. We discussed a few for Joe Burrow. Let’s talk about his first option now. Here are three realistic expectations for Ja’Marr Chase in year one.