Ja'Marr Chase vs Brock Bowers

“There aren't many questions about Ja'Marr Chase in 2026, but if you remember 2025, there were plenty. The start of the season was rough, and everyone was panicking (and I was buying). It's old news because he led the league in targets, finished as the WR4, and is now going off the board as the WR1, right where Mike and Jason have him ranked.”

“No receiver projects for more volume than Ja'Marr Chase. His 182 targets led the league, reinforcing his status as one of the few true offensive focal points in the game. The surprising part of Chase's season wasn't the workload. It was the TD total. After scoring 17 TDs the previous year, Chase found the end zone just eight times despite finishing with 22 targets inside the 20-yard line, 6th most in the league.”

“Chase has averaged 115+ catches, 1,400+ receiving yards and 10+ touchdowns over the last three years, and Joe Burrow is coming into 2026 100% healthy.”

“Chase has led the league in targets each of the last two years. He's averaged 6.7 catches and 87.7 yards per game over his five-year career. Chase also gets to play with Joe Burrow, one of the best pure passers in the game.”

“Much of Chase's ceiling is tied to Joe Burrow's health. In games with Burrow at quarterback since Chase was drafted, he averages 0.78 touchdowns and 20.67 PPR points. In the games without Burrow, those numbers drop to 0.33 touchdowns and 15.48 points.”

“The only question mark is the consistency beyond Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, with the Bengals' next most targeted wide receivers combining for a 16% drop rate while Chase and Higgins were at 4% combined.”

“Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals (4) was the highest rated Wide Receiver in the NFL Top 100 for 2025.”

“One player who notably looks worse in per-route data compared to his annual ADP is Higgins' teammate — Ja'Marr Chase. However, I don't think anyone seriously believes this means Chase isn't one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.”

“In five years in the league, Chase has averaged 1,490 yards a season.”

“The same goes for elite wideouts like Ja'Marr Chase and Puka Nacua. But they are knocked down a peg or two by the top-tier quarterbacks.”

“Using this year's board, let's say you take Ja'Marr Chase at 1.01. You pick at 24 and 25.”

“The idea behind "Stars & Scrubs" is to build your team primarily around a few star players. For example, you may be able to walk away with Ja'Marr Chase, Jahmyr Gibbs and someone like Christian McCaffrey, but this will leave you with a significantly lower budget for the remaining picks.”

“Round 4: Brock Bowers (TE – LV) Brock Bowers dealt with injuries last season, but assuming he stays healthy this season, he should be in for a TE1-caliber season.”

“I’m certainly willing to spend early-round draft capital on Brock Bowers , who’s capable of putting up the sort of numbers the elite wide receivers produce, or Colston Loveland , who turned into a monster late in his rookie season.”

“Loveland is the consensus TE3 for 2026 fantasy drafts behind only Brock Bowers and Trey McBride .”

“Neither should be drafted this high. Last season, McBride averaged 18.6 PPR points per game, and Bowers averaged 15.5 in 2024, the better season of his two years in the NFL.”

“Everyone loves receiving a well-considered offer; nobody likes being offered a mediocre tight end when they already have Brock Bowers.”

“Sleeper lists Trey McBride at $34, Brock Bowers for $27, and Colston Loveland at a shamefully low $18.”

“I had the pleasure of facing Brock Bowers in Week 9 of the 2025 season when he put up 127 yards, three TDs, and 43.3 fantasy points. Truthfully, Zach Ertz was never going to give me that kind of week at this point in his career, and that’s exactly my point. At TE, you are drafting for positional advantage just as much as raw production.”

“Brock Bowers finished the season as the TE8 in PPR leagues, and while that’s fantastic for most, he was the TE1 as a rookie, so this was a noticeable step back. Bowers played in just 12 games last season, which included Weeks 1-4 and Weeks 9-16. For fantasy football, he missed Weeks 5-8 and Week 17.”

“There are great expectations for Brock Bowers in his third NFL season following an injury-plagued Year 2.”

“Brock Bowers is essentially the “skeleton key” in drafts this year. I’m prioritizing him in every single one of my leagues. Bowers goes towards the end of the second round, but I’m willing to take him as high as 13 overall.”

“Raiders HC Klint Kubiak said that TE Brock Bowers will continue to be a center point of the offense. “ We’ve got to get the most out of Brock, ” Kubiak said, via ESPN . “ He’s been successful in college and high school with whoever’s coached him. Can’t say enough great things about him. Love his work ethic. He is a standard-bearer. ””

“One analyst’s tight end approach this year is intentionally narrow: get Brock Bowers , Colston Loveland , or Tyler Warren if the value is there, or punt the position entirely to the late rounds.”