After an explosive start to his NFL career, the Offensive Rookie of the Year race appeared to be over. Ja’Marr Chase went for over 200 yards receiving against the Ravens in Week 7 and while there were still 11 weeks to go, it felt like the Cincinnati Bengals‘ rookie wide receiver had locked up the title.
Well, after that electrifying Week 7 performance, Chase fell off. He had four straight games where he failed to over the 50-yard mark in a game and it wasn’t until Week 14 that he had another multi-touchdown game.
In the past two weeks, however, Chase has proven that he should be Offensive Rookie of the Year. He’s coming off a game in Week 17 where he grabbed 11 receptions for 266 yards and found the end zone three times. He did this against a very good Chiefs defense.
Ja’Marr Chase deserves Offensive Rookie of the Year
Even last week after Chase had seven catches for 125 yards, WynnBET still had Mac Jones as the favorite to be crowned Offensive Rookie of the Year. Now, however, they’ve changed their tune and Chase is the oddsmaker’s favorite at -260 while Jones has +200 odds. The final battle is between these two and that’s not shocking to anyone.
On the season, Chase has 79 receptions for 1,429 yards and 13 touchdowns and he has one more regular-season game to reach the 1,500-yard mark. Jones has thrown for 3,540 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 12 picks during his first year as the Patriots’ starting quarterback but the sad thing here is that Chase had more yards last week than Jones did, and he’s a wide receiver.
The OROY debate is fascinating. Ja'Marr Chase is clearly better at his position right now than anyone else in the race is at theirs—he's already a Top 10 WR. The question then becomes, on Mac Jones, how much you grade on a curve with a QB.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 4, 2022
(Rashawn Slater deserves mention too).
Call me biased but if Chase doesn’t win the Offensive Rookie of the Year title, that’d be an embarrassment for the NFL. I get that Jones is a quarterback and plays for a more prominent franchise but who cares?
When looking at the offensive rookies this year, everyone is going to say that Chase was the best. What he’s done is sensational and the Bengals would not be AFC North champions without him. The Patriots might still be where they are without Jones.
"Cincinnati Bengals: All-time passing leaders in franchise history"
Will Chase end up winning the OROTY title? We’ve got one more week to see how this plays out, as the award is based on the regular season and not the playoffs.