Stat of the Jay: With Bengals Star Ja’Marr Chase To Defend Triple Crown, a Look at What Others Did in Their Encores

CINCINNATI – With so much attention turned toward the NFL Draft and the ink dry on the massive extensions the Cincinnati Bengals awarded to their star wide receivers, we haven’t written much about Ja’Marr Chase lately.

Let’s change that.

There was a lot of focus on Chase’s pursuit of the Triple Crown last year as he became just the fifth receiver since the 1970 merger to lead the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in a season.

Among that group, which includes Jerry Rice, Sterling Sharpe, Steve Smith Sr. and Cooper Kupp, Chase’s receptions (127) rank second, his yards (1,708) are second and his touchdowns (17) are first.

With Bengals receiver Tee Higgins returning alongside him to divert at least some of the attention and quarterback Joe Burrow solidly in his prime, it makes you wonder if Chase could become the first player in NFL history to win back-to-back Triple Crowns.

We’ll have to wait several months to find out, of course.

But let’s look at what the previous winners did in their encores.

Rice’s Triple Crown came in 1990 at age 28 with 100 catches, 1,502 yards and 13 TDs as he helped lead the 49ers to a 14-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

In his 1991 follow up, Rice had 80 catches, 1,206 yards and 14 TDs.

The touchdowns led the league, but he finished seventh in receptions and third in yards.

Sharpe was 27 when he won the Triple Crown in 1992 with 108 catches, 1,461 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The following year he led the league in catches again with 112, but his 1,274 yards and 11 TDs ranked third.

It would be more than a decade before another Triple Crown occurred, with Smith logging 103 catches, 1,563 yards and 12 TDs in 2005 at age 26.

Smith actually finished tied for first in catches and touchdowns.

In his 2006 encore, Smith had 83 receptions (14th), 1,166 yards (10th) eight TDs (10th).

Kupp won his Triple Crown and the Super Bowl in the same season in 2021, when at age 28 he had 145 catches, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Kupp only played nine games the following year but still put up numbers many receivers would love to have for a full season – 75 catches (27th), 812 yards (36th) and six touchdowns (24th).

The fact that no Triple Crown winner has led the league in two of the three categories the following season drives home the point of how hard it is to accomplish all three in the same year.