Ja'Marr Chase gets boost in Madden rating after hot start to rookie season
Ja’Marr Chase was the target of criticism this summer, as he had a rough preseason and uneven beginning to his NFL career. Heck, he was even the subject of jokes for pointing out the differences between the NCAA and NFL style football.
Now, he’s putting all doubts to rest as his rookie season begins. In the first three games of his career, Chase has been tremendous — catching 11 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns.
After proving the doubters wrong, Chase is earning his flowers. Recently, he finally got some respect from the fellas over at EA Sports — they’re upping his rating in Madden NFL 22.
“Chase! Since the football season has started, you have been money in the bank,” stated Chad Johnson, former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver and current Madden Ratings Adjuster. “Preseason, you had everybody talking — making them think you had a case of the drops. Now, as a rookie, in only your third game, youngest player ever to have four touchdowns in just three games. With that, your name is in great company. Guess who else did that — Randy Moss is the only other player to do that, dude!”
Furthermore, Johnson went into depth about the changes in Chase’s rating. Evidently, the wide receiver will see a big difference in himself the next time he fires up the game.
“Your overall rating is going up plus-one, from a 76 to a 77. Your catching, cause that’s what you’ve been doing the past three weeks after fooling everybody in the preseason, is going plus-two; from an 83 to an 85. 85 is a great number,” said Johnson. “Your deep-route running is going up plus-one from a 79 to an 80. You’re playing phenomenal son. Keep it up.”
It had to be extra special for Johnson to praise Chase, as Johnson is the all-time receiving leader in Bengals history.
Chase believes NFL defenses will adjust to him
As Madden adjusts their ratings for Chase, the Bengals star wide receiver believes NFL defenses will adjust as well. Following Cincinnati’s victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chase stated that he’s seeing double coverage more often.
“I would probably say I’ve seen it the past two games a little bit,” Chase said. “I know the Steelers threw it at me maybe a couple times today. I’m not really sure how many times I’ve seen it. I’ve had a bunch of times in college but so far in the NFL I’ve only seen it twice [against the Bears and Steelers].”
Whether it’s double coverage or a different strategy, NFL defensive coordinators have to find a way to slow down Chase. So far, nobody’s done it yet.
Tonight, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Joe Cullen gets his shot at Ja’Marr Chase. If the former LSU Tigers legend has another good game, we could see his Madden rating continue to shoot up.