As a general rule, we should never, ever base a NFL player's future off preseason performance, good or bad. The preseason is strictly for getting the juices flowing before Week 1 for the starters, and for the fringe guys trying to make a roster. Other than that, it is completely meaningless.
That's why, despite a number of drops in the preseason, Cincinnati Bengals fans need to take a deep breath when it comes to fifth-overall pick Ja'Marr Chase, and the same goes for his fantasy owners. The former LSU wide receiver is still uber-talented, and, people forget, he did not play football for an entire year after opting out of the 2020 college football season. Patience should be the operative word for the rookie wideout.
HOWEVA, Chase did not do a good job quelling the concerns of Bengals fans and fantasy owners alike in an interview that ran on Bengals.com earlier this week. The reason he's struggling with drops, Chase says, is because the NFL ball is bigger and harder to see. Oh dear.
"The ball is different because it's bigger," Chase said. "It doesn't have the white stripes on the side so you can't see the ball coming from the tip point so you actually have to look for the strings on the ball at the top, which is hard to see because whole ball is brown and you have the six strings that are white."
Fortunately for Chase, Bengals fans are a very optimistic bunch that have never been hurt before, so they should respond to this well.
Oh dear, pt. 2:
Yeah, so saying the NFL ball is hard to catch and/or see is obviously a very bad thing to say as a NFL wide receiver. Having said that, he should still be fine, especially considering he's playing with his former Tiger teammate Joe Burrow. He also mentioned in the interview that part of it has been a lack of concentration (also semi-concerning), and that eventually he will get comfortable with it. Deep breaths, Bengals fans. Deep breaths into a brown paper bag, maybe, but deep breaths.
The best of Golf Digest delivered daily
Sign UpWill be used in accordance with our PRIVACY POLICY