Zac Taylor shares impact Ja'Marr Chase will have on Bengals' offense in 2023

Ja’Marr Chase has been excellent in his first two NFL seasons. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor expects nothing less in 2023.

“More of the same. Ja’Marr, and really our receiving group as a whole, the consistency they bring every day, they continue to push themselves. Troy Walters really does a great job pushing them as well as the receivers coach. It’s a really special group that just keeps coming to work every single day and trying to get better.”

A special group indeed. Led by star quarterback Joe Burrow, the Bengals averaged 258 receiving yards per game last season, the fifth-most in the NFL. The loaded group boasts top talents such as Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and, of course, Chase.

Chase recorded 1,046 receiving yards last season despite playing in just 12 games. The former LSU standout suffered a hairline fracture in his hip during the Bengals’ Week 6 win over the Saints. Chase also recorded nine touchdowns, making him one of just eight receivers to rank in the top 20 in league touchdowns.

While Chase is the top dog in a pack of dangerous wide receivers, the group might not be together much longer. Picked just one year apart from each other, Chase and Higgins have simultaneously risen to the top of the league.

Likewise, they both are expected to earn massive contracts soon. The Bengals must make the most of the time they have left. In 2021, the Bengals made their third Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. In 2022, Cincinnati fell just short of its goal when it lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. This year could the Bengals’ final chance with their current roster.

Taylor isn’t blind to this fact.

“(The depth) is the best we’ve had and it is hard in pro football now to have as strong as a 53-man roster that we can potentially have,” Taylor said following the conclusion of mandatory minicamp, via the team website’s Geoff Hobson. “I just think it is the way the salary cap is built. You’ve got to acquire young players and hope they step up quickly.

“I think this team has really high-end starters and really talented depth,” Taylor said. “You feel like this thing is way ahead of where we’ve been years past. Especially from the first day I got here. So, you can see the details. Guys are moving so quickly. The players here are empowered, they’ve taken ownership of our schemes and so that allows them to take the next step.”

Chase, Taylor and their fellow Bengals will kick off the regular season when they take on the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 10.