Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver and former LSU Tigers teammate Justin Jefferson have a history, but aren't exactly best friends according to Jefferson.
The two receivers played together on the 2019 LSU Tigers team, quarterbacked by Joe Burrow, en route to one of the most memorable national championship runs in recent memory. Burrow and Chase both ended up on the Bengals, but Jefferson was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and has been making do with a revolving door of quarterbacks.
Jefferson and Chase continue to remain in the conversation for the best wide receiver in the NFL year in and year out as the two become veterans in the league.
Chase and Minnesota Vikings superstar Justin Jefferson have an interesting relationship
Jefferson explained the interesting nature of the relationship between him and Chase in a sit-down with Taylor Rooks of Boardroom for the cover story of their fall issue.
“It’s definitely a love/hate relationship, but it has to be just because of how competitive we are and how much this sport really means to us. We don’t ever like to be number two. No one ever likes to be number two...To have two guys that are on a similar level, superstars in the league that have all the talent in the world and are able to take a franchise to the next level, for us to have been on that same team at LSU is pretty crazy. That transformed into the league, us always competing against each other. He’s on one side, I’m on the other side. We’re always competing for who’s going to get the most touchdowns, who’s going to get the most yards.”
Chase and Jefferson have matched up a total of three times since both receivers made it to the NFL. Chase is 2-1 in those matchups, including his first game and touchdown as a rookie in the NFL. The matchup between the two always seems to make its way into the headlines in the week leading up to the game. In their most recent 2025 matchup, Chase said in an article from Sports Illustrated that he would do Jefferson's famous "Griddy" if he scored, just to annoy his old teammate.
If he doesn't want me to, I'm going to do it," Chase said while laughing. "...Who knows what I'll do when I get in the end zone. Maybe I might get a fine this week, who knows."
Has Ja'Marr or JJettas had the better NFL career?
Often the topic of hot debate among NFL fans, Chase and Jefferson both have strong cases to be considered the top receiver in the NFL. Jefferson has a leg up in terms of experience and stat totals, as he came into the league a year before Chase. Despite playing in 16 more games than Chase, Jefferson only has 42 total touchdowns to Chase's 54.
Jefferson has 59 more total receptions and just over 1,500 more yards than Chase in those 16 extra games. If Chase were to continue to average 6.7 receptions per game and 87.7 yards per game, which are his career averages, he would have 107 more receptions and 1,400 more yards.
While Chase has had the benefit of playing with Burrow, someone he's had built-in chemistry with, he's had his fair share of quarterback uncertainty. Burrow missed just over half of the 2025 season and suffered a season-ending injury in 2023. This left Chase with recently cut quarterback Jake Browning and 41-year-old Joe Flacco.
Jefferson, on the other hand, has a jarring list of 10 quarterbacks who have thrown to him over the course of his career:
- Kirk Cousins
- Sean Mannion
- Carson Wentz
- Nick Mullens
- Josh Dobbs
- Sam Darnold
- J.J. McCarthy
- Jaren Hall
- Max Brosmer
- Kyler Murray
The two receivers both have two First-Team All-Pro honors, Chase has one more Pro Bowl and Jefferson has an Offensive Player of the Year honor that Chase doesn't.
The one separating stat in which the two receivers aren't neck and neck is postseason performance. In two postseason games, Jefferson has 12 receptions for 105 yards and zero touchdowns. Chase had 12 receptions for 116 yards in the first postseason game of his NFL career against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Chase has 45 receptions for just under 600 yards and three touchdowns in his postseason career. While postseason play isn't often the metric by which receivers are judged when comparing them, as it is when quarterbacks are compared, there isn't much else in which these two have a significant difference.
The story of either of their careers is just getting started, so as the young phenoms turn into veterans the everlasting debate will begin to resolve itself.
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