Joe Burrow Offers Up Huge Praise for Ja'Marr Chase Ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft

Will the two LSU legends reunite in Cincinnati?

Author:
All Bengals Staff
Updated:
Apr 21, 2021 7:33 AM EDT
Original:
Apr 21, 2021

CINCINNATI — Will the Bengals take Ja'Marr Chase or will it be Penei Sewell? It's a debate that fans have had for months and will continue to have until Cincinnati officially makes the fifth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow made it clear that he hasn't and won't give the organization his input on what they should do with the fifth pick.

"I haven't offered up any strong opinion," Burrow said on the Cris Collinsworth podcast. "I'm great friends with Ja'Marr. We've been talking for a year since we stopped playing together. We talked last week so I'm great friends with Ja'Marr [and] know the kind of player he is. I think we're in a great spot. I think a lot of the picks in front of us will be quarterbacks, not sure how many them, but I think a lot of them will be. I think we're in a good spot to take the best available."

There's been plenty of rumblings about Burrow pushing for a reunion with Chase, who caught 84 passes for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns at LSU in 2019, but the 24-year-old insisted that wasn't the case. He may not be pounding the table for Chase, but he isn't shy about praising his former No. 1 target.

"He's a lot like me. He was in there every Saturday with me throwing, getting up early," Burrow said. "He's that kind of guy. He's a great person, great dude, great player. He's gonna have a long, very good, successful career."

Burrow found Chase early and often during LSU's perfect season that ended with a national championship win over Clemson. The star receiver averaged 21.2 yards-per-catch and topped the 100-yard mark in nine of the Tigers' 15 contests.

"Certain receivers just have a way of getting separation at the top of the route. Whether they're accelerating past them or they get a little push, whatever it is, he's got that receiver ability to just run past people," Burrow said. "He ran a 4.38 [40-yard dash]. I think that's what it was. I didn't expect it. Nobody is catching him, though. He just has a great way of getting open. He has a great feel for zone, great feel for man. He just really understands it all. He's a complete player."

This isn't the first time Burrow has praised the 21-year-old publicly. A trio of Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and Chase could give the Bengals one of the best wide receiver units in the NFL.

"You really can't go wrong," Burrow said of the fifth pick. "There's so many great options. That's the perk of picking so high and not being a very good team. But I'm very comfortable with Ja'Marr. Like I said, we have great chemistry talking to him all the time, but we're [the Bengals] in a good position."

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