Ja’Marr Chase falling behind Mac Jones in OROTY race
After the Cincinnati Bengals blew out the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7, it felt like a foregone conclusion that Ja’Marr Chase would be crowned Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was coming off a performance where he racked up over 200 yards receiving and none of the other offensive rookies were showing much of anything.
Well, since then, Chase has had just over 50 yards receiving only one time and it was this past week against the Chargers. He’s found the end zone just twice in the five games since that explosive performance in Baltimore.
Meanwhile, Mac Jones of the Patriots has been the quarterback of a team that’s won seven straight games and in position to win the AFC East. When push comes to shove, a quarterback is going to win the award over a wide receiver, especially if the wide receiver is going through a rough patch.
Ja’Marr Chase is slowly falling out of OROTY sweepstakes
WynnBET has Jones as the betting favorite with -700 odds while Chase’s odds are sitting at +450. It’s a two-horse race between these two but unless Chase finds that same fire he had in the first seven weeks of the season, he’ll be all but out of it by the end of the regular season.
To this point, Chase has 55 receptions for 958 yards and eight touchdowns. He had lofty goals for himself this year, wanting to hit the 1,500-yard mark and find the end zone 12 times. The 12 touchdowns are still doable through the final five games but it’s going to be hard for him to reach 1,500 yards.
Jones’ numbers aren’t exactly impressive but he’s a quarterback and the only decent one in this rookie class. He’s coming off a game where he attempted three passes all game, completing two of them for 19 yards. That’s who Chase is losing the Offensive Rookie of the Year award to. Not only are his numbers not what they were a few weeks ago, but that dropped ball that resulted in a turnover in the loss was yet another nail in Chase’s OROTY coffin.
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There’s still time for Chase to make a late push for the title but he’ll have to get going if he wants to have any shot at being crowned Rookie of the Year.