Ja’Marr Chase Says NFL Ball Is Harder To Catch Than NCAA Ball
Ja’Marr Chase begins his rookie year with the Cincinnati Bengals. After dominating college football in 2019, Chase opted out of the 2020 season in preparation for the NFL draft. The Bengals drafted the former LSU receiver fifth overall reuniting him with joe Burrow. Chase has gotten off to a slow start in camp and in the preseason as he cannot create consistent separation and he has dropped a number of balls. This shocked most people included me as Chase was explosive and caught nearly everything at LSU, check out his full draft profile. When talking about his drop problem, Chase had an interesting excuse.
“The ball is different because it is bigger,” Chase said, via Bengals.com. “It doesn’t have the white stripes on the side so you can’t see the ball coming from the tip point so you actually have to look for the strings on the ball at the top, which is hard to see because whole ball is brown and you have the six strings that are white. But for the most part, just have to get used to it and find out what I am comfortable with catching.”
via Geoff Hobson, Senior Writer for the Bengals
As for the size, I know the NFL ball is bigger than college but other than that I’m not too sure what the differences are. Whether the balls are different, the only thing Chase should be worrying about is catching them.
Ja’Marr Chase became a pretty polarizing pick for the Bengals as Joe Burrow was coming off a brutal knee injury in his first season. Many people like myself thought they would take Penei Sewell to protect their young quarterback. However, the Bengals opted to reunite Burrow and Chase and forego drafting a lineman that high in the draft. If Sewell is a stud in Detroit this pick is going to look worse than it already does but if Chase can figure out the drop problem no one is going to care that they passed on Sewell.
Let’s not forget when Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase were on LSU, it was clear who the number one receiver was. If Chase can replicate the rookie season Jefferson just had, the drop problem will become an afterthought.
***
Vendetta Sports Media is sponsored by Monkey Knife Fight, the fastest-growing DFS site in the industry. MKF’s unique style and gameplay make betting fun and easy. Use our promo code ‘VENDETTA’ or use the link below to get a 100% instant match on any deposit and let them know that we sent you! Signup now!
