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Chase Cota catches first NFL touchdown pass with Lions

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•08/19/23
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(Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

Longtime Pac-12 football player Chase Cota is making his splash in the NFL.

On Saturday afternoon, Cota recorded the first touchdown grab of his professional career when the Lions opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal. They up a play that got Cota wide open off a curl route and quarterback Nate Sudfield feathered a pass right into his hands for six points.

You can watch the grab right here:

Cota’s strong preseason continues, as he also caught a couple other passes on the day and made an impressive punt return in the first half of the game against the Jaguars. Meanwhile, heading into the game, per DucksWire, “Cota is currently tied for the league lead of 1st down receptions with 4, is second in 15+ yard receptions with 2, and is fifth in receiving yards with 60.”

He’s certainly making a case for a roster spot at the NFL level. Whether he remains with the Lions remains to be seen, especially with cuts coming up at the end of the month. But there’s no doubt this sort of preseason performance will land Cota on a practice squad at the bare minimum.

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As for his collegiate career, well, Cota was west coast through and through. He began as a freshman with UCLA, where he appeared in just six games in 2018 but hauled in 168 receiving yards on the year. As a sophomore, that figure leapt to 350 yards and he finally found the end zone with three touchdowns. He dipped to just 79 total yards in 2020 but rebounded with a decent ’21 campaign that saw him go for 286 yards.

However, after four years in Westwood, the 6’3 wideout ventured north to give Pac-12 rival Oegon a try. In Eugene, he enjoyed the best season of his five-year career, putting up 497 yards and three scores for an Oregon team that finished top-15 in the country. Those sort of numbers, with his frame, led to NFL interest, where he signed with Detroit as an Un-drafted Free Agent (UDFA).

Now, it looks like Chase Cota is making the most of his opportunity.