Bulletproof. That might be the best way to describe the fantasy football stock of Ja’Marr Chase after he notched 125 receptions in a season where Joe Burrow was injured. When you take everything into consideration, this is my pick for the best receiver in football, and those skills transfer one-to-one in the fantasy space, where he has a real case to be the first player off of draft boards.
Should You Draft Ja’Marr Chase in Fantasy Football?
For me, the answer is yes. If you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity, Chase is the third-ranked player on my board this year, and that’s where he’s going in ADP. You’ve got Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson in some order, 1 and 2, and then it’s Chase as the WR1. I think that’s right. You could argue 1.01 if you wanted to, and I’ll get to that.
But Chase’s talent is unquestioned. He’s a 2024 Triple Crown winner. It’s not like he was bad last season. Joe Burrow missed half the year. He’s caught 125 passes since the beginning of 2024, 20 more catches than any other receiver over that same stretch.
He has got more touchdown catches by himself than George Pickens and DeVonta Smith combined. Those guys are both top-20 receivers for me this season. They’re no slouches; those guys are great. Chase is that much better. He’s a level up. He’s a superhero.
I’m taking him over Puka Nacua with a moderate amount of conviction. I don’t think things are going to dial back in a big way in Cincinnati. You’ve got Joe Burrow, who missed 9 games last season, and if he’s healthy, he might be the MVP of the league. Then we’re looking at wheels up and maybe a historic season for Chase.
With Puka, you’ve got some health risk, and you’ve got health risk with Matthew Stafford. That doesn’t really get looked at the same way as it does for Joe Burrow, because Stafford was healthy. He was the MVP of the league last season. But can we really count on that? If you remember 12 months ago, there were back concerns. Backs don’t get healthier with time. I think Stafford is still a little bit of a flight risk, and if he goes down, Puka is in some trouble here.
Chase for me is the WR1 in 2026. That doesn’t mean I’m drafting him 1.01 if I have the top overall pick, though. The running back depth is so much narrower. It’s thin and top-heavy compared to the wide receiver position, where you’ve got viable options coming off the board around 4, 5, and 6. It’s still Chase at No. 3 overall behind Gibbs and Robinson for me. But if you wanted to argue, I’d listen to it.
If you’re picking at 2, you’re not getting Chase in the second round. Go get your guy. Chase is completely acceptable to pick whenever you want in the first round.
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Ja’Marr Chase’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
What’s understood doesn’t need to be explained.
Chase is one of the more inevitable forces in our game when Joe Burrow is under center, and there’s no reason to think we see anything short of dominance out of the gate (Tampa Bay was the worst red-zone defense in the entire NFL a year ago).
When Burrow starts, Chase has cleared 17 PPR points in 3 of his past 4 September games and averages 16.8 points for his career in the month. There are only a few tough matchups on the Cincy schedule (next week at Houston being one of them), and we have a large enough sample to say that Chase abuses opponents in spots like this.
Career: 19.6 PPG when favored.
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Where Chase Ranks Among 2026 Wide Receivers
- Ja’Marr Chase | CIN
- Puka Nacua | LAR
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA
- Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET
- Justin Jefferson | MIN
- CeeDee Lamb | DAL
- Malik Nabers | NYG
- Drake London | ATL
- Nico Collins | HOU
- A.J. Brown | NE
- George Pickens | DAL
More rankings can be found in PFN’s PPR Wide Receiver Rankings.
