Ja'Marr Chase is having one of the best fantasy seasons of the century [Deep Dive]
Only two receivers since the Clinton administration have had better fantasy production through 14 weeks. Travel through time with us to reveal the other two players. Is Justin Jefferson a bum?*
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Buckle up, we’re about to travel through space and time.
For this article, I went back to the year 2000 — the time of hanging chads, GLADIATOR, and “Smooth” by Santana & Rob Thomas. Not for nostalgia’s sake — to tell you the truth, my memories of this time are not overly fond. Brian Davidson stole my markers in front of my crush and I cried. Got those markers back but she would never see me in the same light after that display.
No, dear reader, I went back to see how Ja’Marr Chase’s current output compares with the greatest players of the last quarter century. I used standard scoring, because I’m a data analyst (liar with numbers) and wanted to paint Ja’Marr in the best possible light. Before I reveal the charts below, take a minute and think about the best receivers in recent memory. There are just two players that rank above him through the first 14 weeks of the season. Who are they?
If you guessed Calvin Johnson…honestly decent guess but you’re wrong.
We have to go all the way back to 2007 — two equally good films are released: Transformers and No Country for Old Men. The world was singing “WOOOOOhoooo YEEEEEEEEEEhoooooo” thanks to Akon & Gwen Stefani. And this author had the nervous squirts before every single day of high school.
Number one on our list is Randy Moss in his 2007 season, his first with New England where he completely dominated through all 16 regular season wins. Randy never broke 200 yards during this season but he did have an absurd number of TDs by the time it was over (23, a league record).
For the other player, we have to travel back to the land of Barbenheimer, “Anti-Hero” — okay, this was not that long ago. Tyreek Hill’s 2023 season is the second best through 14 games, edging out Ja’Marr by just one point.
Here are the top fantasy seasons by a WR since 2000 through 14 weeks:
Limiting it to this season, Ja’Marr’s production looks CRAZY. Let’s pull in the same charts but limit to 2024.
That is a LARGE gap between 1 and 2. More on that later…
The gap between Ja’Marr Chase and number 2 (Justin Jefferson) this year is gigantic. In standard scoring, they are 64 points apart. That’s more points than any of the following players have scored all season:
Tyler Lockett
Wan’Dale Robinson
Lil’Jordan Humphrey
OK that last one is kind of believable…
In any event, I wanted to figure out if that gap was primarily due to Ja’Marr or if it was a uniquely bad year for the #2 WRs. Please do not take this out of context*, it only makes sense in this very specific situation. But Justin Jefferson is a BUM. Justin Jefferson is the worst #2 WR at this point in the season since 2000. Joined by fellow BUMS Reggie Wayne, DeSean Jackson, and Anquan Boldin.
*Actually, feel free. As long as it gets us clicks. Might turn this entire page into pure engagement-bait. “See why Justin Jefferson is the WORST wide receiver this CENTURY!”
In conclusion, Ja’Marr Chase is a good football player. I would highly recommend picking him up in any leagues where he is available.
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