CINCINNATI — Ja’Marr Chase may not hit the 17-touchdown mark again this coming season after posting that career high across his 2024 showings. ESPN’s Mike Clay projected he won’t in his latest numbers. He has Chase dropping from 17 touchdowns to 12 in a more spread-out Bengals passing diet.

“Chase led the NFL in end zone targets (19), routes, total targets, receptions, yards and TD receptions last season,” Clay wrote. “He’s a good bet to rank near the top of the league in all of those categories again in 2025, but the gap between his scoring and expected TD total (12.2) suggests a return to earth. After scoring 13 TDs as a rookie in 2021, Chase scored a total of 16 TDs during the 2022 and ’23 seasons.”

That drop wouldn’t be shocking considering how random touchdowns can be, it’s very impressive to haul in 17-19 end zone targets in a season.

Burrow may not need to target him that much this coming season if the full stable of pass-catching options can stay relatively healthy.