Bengals: How Ja’Marr Chase’s rookie season could go based off history

There is a lot of hype surrounding one of the newest members of the Cincinnati Bengals, Ja’Marr Chase, but what will his rookie season really look like?

The Bengals decided to select Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft with the hope that he could become the next great wide receiver.

Stepping in to fill the hole left by A.J. Green, Chase will be expected to contribute from Day 1 and to help turn around a team that has failed to make the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. While expectations are sky-high, what is fair to expect out of the young wide receiver?

To get an idea of what Chase might produce for the Bengals this year, we will look at recent wide receivers taken high in the draft along with a player Chase has been compared to. These expectations are assuming Chase starts Week 1 opposite Tee Higgins and that he can play the entire season without going down to prolonged injury.

For the last several years, wide receivers have not been taken in the top five picks, so the highest wide receiver was used when reasonably close to the top five. While everyone wants Chase to light it up in the NFL and become Offensive Rookie of the Year,  here is what we might reasonably expect from the youngster out of LSU.