The Cincinnati Bengals have a ton of talent on the offensive side of the football, especially at the skill positions. But, do they have the best quarterback/wide receiver duo in the entire NFL? Bleacher Report seems to think so, as they recently ranked the combination of Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase as the league's premier pairing.
Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill in Miami ranked as the second-best duo behind Burrow and Chase, followed by Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb in Dallas, Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs in Buffalo and Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown in Philadelphia.
From Bleacher Report:
"Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase have lit up defenses in the regular season and the playoffs, nearly winning a Super Bowl in their first year together.
"Of course, they had college chemistry at LSU, which made it easier for them to click on the pro level, but still, this tandem has been everything one would expect and more. . . . Though Burrow's growing injury history may be a concern, defenses don't have many answers for him when he's healthy and targets Chase downfield.
". . . If Cincinnati finds a suitor for wideout Tee Higgins, who has requested a trade, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Chase could see a spike in his receiving numbers, which may put him in a position to win the triple crown for receivers as Cooper Kupp did in 2021."
The college connection
It's not especially surprising that Burrow and Chase have developed such solid chemistry together in just three NFL seasons given the fact that they were also teammates together in college at LSU. The two played together for two seasons in Louisiana, and they led the Tigers to a National Championship in 2020. Burrow was the top overall pick in NFL draft in 2020, and Chase went No. 5 overall in 2021.
Since he was draft, Chase has compiled over 1,000 receiving yards in each of his three seasons an he was also named to the Pro Bowl three times. The Bengals went to consecutive AFC Championship games in 2021 and 2022, and made it to the Super Bowl at the conclusion of the '21 campaign.
A wrist injury limited Burrow to just 10 games last season and the Bengals missed the playoffs as a result. But, he's expected to be healthy for the 2024 season, and as a result he and Chase will be able to continue to build and develop their chemistry together and try to lead the Bengals back to the top of the conference in the process.