Ja'Marr Chase Drops Heavily on 2026 NFL Top 100, Ranked Outside Top-15 Players

This makes little sense.

Aug 13, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'marr Chase (1) walks off the field after the victory over the Detroit Lions at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ja'Marr Chase is the latest Bengal named to the NFL Top 100 this week, but it's a big drop-off from his 2025 ranking. Chase checked in at No. 16 overall after getting ranked fourth last year.

The head-scratching ranking comes after a season where he was an AP second-team All-Pro wide receiver. He racked up 125 receptions for 1,412 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025 while becoming the third player in NFL history with at least 125 receptions in consecutive seasons and setting the Bengals single-season record with seven 100-yard receiving games.

It's another piece of bulletin board material for a Bengals team that's missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons and likely won't have any other players named to the NFL Top 100, voted on by active players.

Joe Burrow came in at a career-low No. 44 on this list in another big falloff from his respective 2025 ranking.

Chase and the whole team know they have a ton to prove after big spending happened on the defensive side of the ball this season.

"At the end of the day, we got to the Super Bowl in '21 and never went back," Chase said in June. "So, expectations have always been high since 2021. But now that we have improved our defense a little more, the expectations have gone up for the defense to show us what they could do."

He loved what the team did this offseason and has been putting in quiet, strong work throughout his sixth NFL training camp.

"The moves they made are showing us they want to be with us, too," Chase said. "They want to push us and help us be at the next level where we know we could be at, that we know we needed."

The ranking comes at an interesting time on the calendar as Cincinnati prepares for its most intense practice of training camp tomorrow against the Chicago Bears.

Check out Chase's peers describing his game below:

No. 16 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026…@Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase! @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/R77GqZpJqF

— NFL (@NFL) August 19, 2026

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