Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase needed just one NFL season to establish himself as one of the best wide receivers in the game. Those who watched him in college may not have been shocked, but Les Miles certainly cannot say he saw it coming.
Chase was asked about his sources of motivation while speaking with the media on Wednesday. He said Les Miles is one of them. Why? Because when Chase was coming out of high school, Miles apparently told him he would not make it as a wide receiver at the next level. The coach felt Miles would be better off as a cornerback.
What's something that motivated Ja'Marr Chase to be the player he is today? "Les Miles told me I couldn’t play receiver when I was coming out of high school…" @WLWT #Bengals #LSU pic.twitter.com/e5699LnoE6
— Brandon Saho (@BrandonSaho) January 26, 2022
Needless to say, that assessment was a bit off. Chase exploded in his sophomore season at LSU in 2019. He caught 84 passes for 1,780 yards and a whopping 20 touchdowns, which was an SEC record until Alabama’s DeVonta Smith broke it the following year. Chase and Joe Burrow helped lead LSU to a national title. Chase set a College Football Playoff championship game record with 221 receiving yards in LSU’s win over Clemson.
It’s worth noting that Chase said he worked even harder after he spoke with Miles, so Miles may have helped Chase’s career.
Some people doubted Chase’s abilities when he struggled with drops during the preseason, but that now seems like a lifetime ago. The 21-year-old caught 81 passes for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns in his rookie season. He also had over 100 yards in each of Cincinnati’s two playoff wins.
Miles, who coached at LSU from 2005-2016, was not with the school when Chase arrived in 2018. Tigers fans should be thankful for that. Miles will probably hear about his Chase assessment for the rest of his life. We all saw what happened when a former NFL executive doubted Lamar Jackson’s ability to play quarterback.
Photo: Albert Cesare/The Enquirer/USA TODAY NETWORK
