Fox Sports' Nick Wright is a massive Chiefs supporter, so the kindest of Cincinnati Bengals fans can afford him a little grace for any lingering anti-Who Dey bias. That or Wright just can't stand the sight of Bengals uniforms because it gives him bad-vibe flashbacks.
Believe it or not, the only AFC quarterbacks who've beaten Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes are Tom Brady and Joe Burrow. That's it. That's the entire list.
Burrow, his go-to wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, and the Bengals were achingly close to stopping the Chiefs' dynasty in their tracks in the AFC Championship Game a few years ago. The Chiefs won by three points, won the next two Super Bowls, and made it to the next one. Cincinnati hasn't returned to the playoffs since.
What another Super Bowl appearance could've done for the Bengals as a recruitment tool alone is a butterfly effect we'll just have to daydream about. Or imagine another timeline where things were ever so slightly different. Because it didn't happen.
Anyway, saying all that to say, I believe Nick Wright can't bring himself to watch the Bengals play to this day. That's why he underrates Ja'Marr Chase so heavily among the NFL's elite receivers.
Ja'Marr Chase ranked as 4th-best wide receiver in NFL by Nick Wright
Nick Wright lambastes "THE AGGREGATORS" as a mortal enemy oftentimes, but it's OK, Nick. Most of us sports media folk haven't reached seven-figure paydays on TV, so we do what we gotta do. You can cool it with that talk.
And you can also cool it with this nonsense that Ja'Marr Chase somehow isn't a top-three wide receiver in the league.
“I think JSN & Puka have supplanted Justin Jefferson & Ja’Marr Chase.”@getnickwright says there are new faces at the top of the WR rankings pic.twitter.com/f2R5AK483a
— What’s Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) January 28, 2026
I say all of this mostly in jest of course. It's not like Wright and/or his social media team did him any favors by stitching together this short video that probably leaves out *some* context.
But to simplify the rationalization of ranking Jaxon Smith-Njigba over Justin Jefferson by how each of them did in a single season with Sam Darold as their QB feels a little, shall I say, elementary? Not many other pass-catchers are eating up JSN's targets for the Seahawks. Minnesota had Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and others at Darnold's disposal in 2024.
That's neither here nor there. It's the relegation of Chase to No. 4 that makes little sense. Maybe Wright penalizes Chase for having an elite QB like Joe Burrow and a stud WR2 sidekick in Tee Higgins.
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Well, Chase did just win the receiving Triple Crown two seasons ago. This past year, he backed that up with 125 receptions, 1,412 yards, and eight TDs despite Burrow missing nine games and three quarters of another.
Oh, and according to StatMuse, in the 15 career games Chase hasn't had Higgins in the lineup, he's compiled 96 catches for 1,296 yards and eight TDs. Extrapolate that rate of production to 17 games, and it's 109 receptions, 1,468 yards, and nine TDs.
That any good?
Jefferson is the most dynamic route-runner among Wright's top four, which also features the Rams' Puka Nacua. I would say Puka is the most physically dominant player of the quartet, although Chase is very close behind. JSN is probably the smoothest-looking wideout, but I don't think he does any individual thing better than Chase or Jefferson for that matter.
To me, Ja'Marr is No. 1 because he has the best blend of a versatile route tree, ball skills, short-area quickness, explosiveness to score from anywhere on the field, and incredible body control.