Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase looked uncertain to feature in fantasy football managers’ championship games this week when he suffered a shoulder injury in Week 15. However, despite missing Week 16, there was some optimism that Chase would return in Week 17 to play vs. the Kansas City Chiefs when he appeared at practice this week.
However, despite attending practice, he is still listed as questionable going into today’s game. Will Chase play today against the Chiefs? What is the latest news concerning his shoulder injury? And, if Chase does play today, what is his fantasy outlook for Week 17?
Is Ja’Marr Chase Going To Play Week 17?
Chase looked unlikely to return this week when he initially injured his shoulder.
However, despite not being available to practice on Wednesday, Chase logged limited practices on Thursday and Friday to give him a chance to play today against the Chiefs.
And CBS Sports Fantasy Analyst Jamey Eisenberg provided an update on Chase. He posted on social media platform X, “Heard from a reliable source in KC that Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase (shoulder) should play tomorrow while Chiefs are unsure if L’Jarius Sneed (calf) will be able to go. Nothing official but seems to be trending this way.”
With Chase looking likely to play today despite the injury to his shoulder, what does this mean for his fantasy outlook for championship week? Let us look at his matchup with the Chiefs in more detail.
What Is Chase’s Potential Fantasy Outlook for Today?
Chase comes into this week as the WR9 in fantasy football. If he plays today, he will likely finish the season as a WR1. He was drafted to finish as a WR1 so fantasy managers will be somewhat happy with his return this season.
However, with just five weeks of scoring over 20+ fantasy points, he has not provided as many game-winning weeks as fantasy managers would have hoped when they drafted him as the WR2/WR3 overall this summer.
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If Chase suits up, he’d be a top-12 option this week.
This is despite the fact he is playing the Chiefs this week. They only allow 22.8 fantasy points per game to wide receivers. This is the third-least allowed by teams in the NFL heading into Week 17. Only the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets allow less per game coming into this week.
Chase was scheduled to have a difficult matchup being covered by L’Jarius Sneed, who has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this season. However, if the news from Eisenberg turns out to be correct, it appears Chase could have a better matchup than anticipated.
The best advice for any fantasy manager is that if you have drafted a player in the first three rounds of their fantasy drafts this summer, they drafted them with this scenario in mind. You truly believed that this player, like Chase, would be a difference-maker in your championship matchup. So don’t change that thinking now.
Fantasy managers have to hope that Chase will deliver an incredible performance to help them win a championship. Almost two years ago to the day on January 2, 2022, Chase caught 11 of his 12 targets for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Imagine if that happened again this week. If anybody is capable of doing it again, Chase is.
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