Bengals Star Ja'Marr Chase Named NFL's Best Wide Receiver in Latest 2026 Ranking

The NFL team at Sports Illustrated rolled out its top 10 wide receivers in the league ahead of the 2026 season, and Ja'Marr Chase took the top spot.

Chase has long been considered one of the best playmakers in the NFL, and now he's getting love as the best player in the league at his position.

Top Dog

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase runs drills during practice on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at Kettering Health Practice Fields in downtown Cincinnati. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The group behind him went in this order: Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, George Pickens, A.J. Brown, Drake London and Nico Collins.

The Bengals' second-best talent is fresh off a 2025 season with 125 receptions, 1,412 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

"Chase has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in all five of his NFL seasons, including in 2022 when he was only on the field for 12 games," Karl Rasmussen wrote. "Chase is quarterback-proof. Even when Joe Burrow has been sidelined by injuries, the Bengals’ star receiver still produces at a high level. Since he debuted in the NFL in 2021, Chase ranks second among all receivers in yards (6,837), receptions (520) and touchdowns (54).

The 26-year-old had a pretty low-key offseason when it came to being in the news.

He kept his head down, was working hard away from the facility, and looked to be in elite shape when appearing for Minicamp last month. Chase told us about his offseason mentality in February.

"I try to change it up a little bit. Work on new things, new cons that I have, and always fix the pros that I have before the season starts," Chase said. "So it should always be something new I feel like I should work on every offseason… I got a good trainer. So a lot of my work comes from my trainer. I tell him what I want to work on. He sets me up in the right direction with whom I want to meet, talk to, sit down and watch a film with. He definitely helps me with that, too."

Chase is one of the highest-paid receivers in the league and is locked in on that multi-year deal with plenty of peace of mind to go with it.

The runway is clear for him to possibly post his best season yet if the offense can stay healthy around him.

Check out the full ranking here.

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