Is Joe Burrow nudging the Cincinnati Bengals toward former LSU teammate Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth pick in the 2021 NFL draft?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Does it matter?
The reality is the 2021 draft class is unique in its depth of offensive line prospects. Due to this, Cincinnati isn’t locked into taking a lineman in the first round, regardless of what happened on the field last year.
It’s also unique in that it happens to offer a No. 1 wideout prospect who has garnered some Julio Jones-type comparisons. That wideout happened to excel with Burrow at LSU too, to the tune of 1,780 yards and 20 scores on a 21.2 average in 2019.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando added some additional fuel to this fire during a chat with a general manager:
“(Joe) Burrow has been pushing for Ja’Marr Chase, they signed Riley Reiff, they drafted the tackle from Alabama (Jonah Williams), and it’s a deep tackle draft — you can get one in the second round,” the GM said. “I say they take the wideout from LSU. He is a great player.”
We’ve seen speculation in the past that Burrow is pushing the Bengals to draft Chase. Other teams sure seem to think it will happen. And given some reporting out there, it sure seems like the Bengals are closing in on making him the pick.
Which makes sense given Chase’s abilities and upside, plus the Burrow chemistry. The Bengals have two solid starting wideouts already and adding a No. 1 would put things over the top. It helps that the Bengals already use a ton of LSU concepts in the attack, anyway.
With Frank Pollack back and coaching up the offensive line, which should include a top-50 prospect even if they take Chase at five, the proverbial stars seem to align just right for an LSU connection for Burrow and Chase.
