Widely regarded as a make-or-break season for this version of the Cincinnati Bengals, nobody is focused on individual accolades. Still, if all goes right, then there’s no reason why a player like wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase couldn’t have personal and team success.
There are even those, like NFL legend Torry Holt, who believe he could break long-held records. In particular, during an appearance on Up & Adams, Holt shared that he believes that Chase is the most likely receiver today to break the single-season receiving yards record.
The single-season receiving yards record is currently held by Calvin Johnson, who had 1,964 yards back in 2012. There were a couple of good runs at the record since then, including Cooper Kupp going for 1,947 yards back in 2021. However, for now, it’s a mark that no receiver has managed to touch.
Could Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase Break the Receiving Yards Record?
GettyCincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase
It’s no secret that getting to 2,000 receiving yards is a goal for just about every star wide receiver in the business, even if nobody has done it before. It’s a feat that would take a star like Ja’Marr Chase to accomplish.
Torry Holt broke down all the receivers who have some kind of shot at it. Ultimately, he landed on Chase being the most likely candidate.
“That’s a lot of yards, and if you look at this list, who could do it?” Holt said. “Ja’Marr, Justin Jefferson, George Pickens? I mean, they all are certainly capable of doing, if I had to guess with a healthy Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, I think will be first, then I will go with JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba), because he’s just so good, and just really good at getting open, getting the ball, his hands being available, so those two come to mind, but I would say Ja’Marr Chase again with a healthy Joe Burrow probably will maybe scratch the surface of what Calvin Johnson was able to do.”
As it stands now, Chase’s best season statistically was back in 2024. He finished that year with 127 receptions for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns. That’s about 100.5 yards per game. Incidentally, that’s the 16th-most receiving yards in a single-season for a receiver. It’s also more than 250 yards off the pace set by Calvin Johnson for the single-season receiving yards record.
Chase saw his numbers slip a bit in 2025, but that can be attributed to Joe Burrow missing time. With a healthy season from Burrow, it’s easy to see Chase get back to those heights that he previously hit in his career.
On top of that, it’s worth recognizing that Chase has one extra game in a 17-game regular season than Calvin Johnson had to set the record. When Johnson did that, he had 122.8 yards per game. Add another game, and he would have fairly easily cleared the 2,000-yard number. Of course, that was also on a team with a good quarterback and few other options to throw to. The Bengals have a good quarterback and good other options to throw to, like Tee Higgins.
Ja’Marr Chase Set Expectations for the Bengals in 2026
GettyCincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase
While Torry Holt might have individual accolades in mind for Ja’Marr Chase, that’s not what he’s thinking about. Chase is thinking about championships, and he recently made it clear that’s the goal for this upcoming season.
“At the end of the day, we got to the Super Bowl in ’21 and never went back,” Chase said. “So, expectations have always been high since 2021. But now that we have improved our defense a little more, the expectations have gone up for the defense to show us what they could do.”
This offseason, the Bengals were among the more aggressive teams rebuilding their roster. In particular, on the defensive side of the ball, where they added stars like Dexter Lawrence. For Chase, that effort was incredibly important.
“The moves they made are showing us they want to be with us, too,” Chase said. “They want to push us and help us be at the next level where we know we could be at, that we know we needed.”
NFL Legend Torry Holt Predicts Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase Will Break NFL Record