As one of the most dynamic playmakers in football, Ja’Marr Chase fantasy football managers enjoyed a nice return on investment for a player whose average draft position was around 75 last season. Chase smashed Bengals records and “Hit The Griddy” after torching defenders. And Chase is already looking like at least a top-five receiver in the league. Here is a fantasy outlook for Ja’Marr Chase for the 2022 season.
READ MORE: Tony Pollard Fantasy Football Outlook
2022 Fantasy Football Outlook: Ja’Marr Chase
2021 Recap
In his rookie year, Chase lit the league on fire. He finished the season with the most receiving yards by a rookie since 1960. In addition, he helped lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl and they very nearly won it all. Overall (regular season and playoffs), Chase hauled in 106 passes for 1,823 yards and 14 touchdowns.
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On the season, Chase finished as WR3, behind only Cooper Kupp and Deebo Samuel. Chase had the most prolific season a Bengals receiver has ever had and there is a long history of great wide receiver play in Cincinnati. It is extremely impressive that a 21-year-old rookie did it.
While Chase exploded on the scene, he was held in check a few times. His ceiling was extremely high and on five instances, he finished as WR6 or better. On the other hand, he finished as WR25 or worse eight times and bottomed out in Week 15 where he finished with just three yards off of one reception. Granted, one of those eight poor fantasy performances was in Week 18 where he played just five snaps to make sure he broke the Bengals receiving record.
2022 Outlook
Ja’Marr Chase fantasy football managers are planning on another great season from “Uno.” Justin Jefferson had a strong sophomore season and Chase’s could be even better. Chase has a better team and quarterback, and Cincinnati has more weapons that defenses will have to respect. And thankfully for Chase, he won’t have to play against four of the toughest six defenses in terms of fantasy points allowed to wide receivers.
Having said that, Chase and the Bengals will have to face the top and fourth-ranked defenses, based on last year’s numbers. On the flip side, Chase and the Bengals will face off against four of the worst nine defenses. That includes the Baltimore Ravens who they will play twice. Naturally, Baltimore was decimated with injuries last season, so it is to be expected that they will be better in 2022. And the Ravens stats might have been a bit skewed thanks to Chase’s 467 yards and four touchdowns.
Terry McLaurin:
130 targets
13.1 aDoT
1,053 yardsDK Metcalf:
129 targets
12.7 aDoT
967 yardsJa'Marr Chase:
128 targets
12.6 aDoT
1,455 yardsChase's abilities after the catch are otherwordly. If he sees a target bump in 2022, he will break fantasy football.
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) July 14, 2022
Chase is due to have more massive games as he did against the Ravens (twice) and Chiefs. This coming season the Bengals will face four of the worst seven defenders in terms of yards allowed. Of the top twenty worst defenders by yards allowed, Cincinnati will face eight of them and Chase will get to line up against Marlon Humphrey. In their only matchup, Humphrey allowed 227 out of his total 665 yards to the Bengals.
This year, it looks like Cincinnati and Chase are being underrated and overlooked. With the improvements to the offensive line and the fact Joe Burrow will finally get a normal off-season to prepare, the Bengals are set up for even more success. In last season’s Super Bowl, Cincinnati was 0.5 seconds away from Chase hitting the Griddy in the endzone with Jalen Ramsey on the ground 30 yards away while orange and black confetti rained down. Adding at least three new and upgraded pieces to the worst offensive line in football will pay dividends in the form of Chase eclipsing 1,500 yards in 2022.
Average Draft Position
Fantasy gurus are buying Chase and the Bengals offense in 2022 despite having to play a first-place schedule. This fall, Ja’Marr Chase fantasy football managers will have to use a premium pick for the young stud’s services. His ADP is around ninth overall, putting him at WR3, which mimicks his finishing position in 2021.
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Expect Chase to burst out of the gates this fall. The Pittsburgh Steelers were strong against the pass last year but they have some new pieces in the defensive backfield. The Dallas Cowboys have two of the worst corners in the league in terms of yards allowed. Cincinnati is likely going to be out for revenge against the New York Jets since they lost a fluke game against them last season. The Miami Dolphins will be a tougher matchup because Xavien Howard is legit. Chase has dominated the Ravens secondary and it will be interesting to watch how they will respond after getting routinely embarrassed in both meetings last year.
Down the stretch and in fantasy playoffs, however, Ja’Marr Chase fantasy football managers should take caution. Assuming all parties are healthy, Cincinnati will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, and New England Patriots in Weeks 15-17. Buffalo and New England are the two stingiest fantasy defenses against receivers on the Bengals schedule.
Chase is poised to repeat his elite performances from 2021 this year. With the overall improvements the Bengals made to the offense and a semi-favorable schedule of matchups, Chase will be able to finish as a top-five receiver at worst. Can he finish at WR1 and unseat Cupp? It is improbable because Chase most likely will not get 200 targets because Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd are legitimate threats as well.
Main Photo
https://twitter.com/JonMetler/status/1547938428423090179/photo/1
