Ja’Marr Chase: The Case for the 1.01 in Fantasy

Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase finished as the top wide receiver in 2024. As the Bengals head into 2025, they’ve made major moves to keep their offensive core together. Luckily for fantasy football managers, the defense hasn’t made any major moves.

Bottom line up front, Chase is a fantastic pick at any point in the first round, including the 1.01.

Ja’Marr Chase: The Case for the 1.01

Ja’Marr Chase 2024 Fantasy Season Review

Chase wasn’t just the top overall wide receiver; he outscored the next closest player by almost 100 points. Per Footballguys, Chase had the most receptions, yards, and touchdowns of any wide receiver. Even expanding out to all flex options, Chase was the top guy by a sizeable margin. He had a full season with Joe Burrow and took full advantage of it. While the team found little success in the win/loss column, Chase had a season for the ages through a fantasy football lens. The Bengals had the highest pass rate over expected of any team in the NFL, and nothing the team has done in the offseason shows that will change.

Ja’Marr Chase 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook

Trey Hendrickson is still in the thick of a contract dispute. Their first-round pick, Shemar Stewart, just started showing up for camp, and he’s a raw player who needs the reps dearly. We’ve seen Chase’s floor with a Burrow injury and a lackluster passing attack, and even that had him as the WR13 in 2024. As long as both Burrow and Chase are healthy, they are a force to be reckoned with in fantasy football leagues. Recent projections have him as the WR1 across multiple sites, and that’s even adjusting for him to come back down to earth in the touchdown department.

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As the team continues to play in a superpowered AFC North with a weak defense, Burrow and Chase are going to have to air it out to try and keep it up in games. This allows Chase to have a relatively safe floor, and his run-after-the-catch ability makes his weekly ceiling one of the best in the NFL. Chase is responsible for three of the best wide receiver single-game performances since 2000, and he has more games over 15 points than under 10 in his career. Any projections that have him outside the top three would need some extreme gusto, and are probably just trying to make hot takes for takes’ sake.

Ja’Marr Chase Fantasy Football ADP

Outside of superflex leagues and some crazy scoring settings, Chase is the consensus 1.01. If you were reading this to find a reason to not take him with the first pick, you’ve come to the wrong place. There’s always a chance he doesn’t finish as the number one overall flex option again, but outside of injury, his floor is extremely safe. With the influx of rookie running backs, veterans that are falling, and late-round quarterback options, Chase has every reason to be the top pick with confidence in 2025.