Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow praise Hayden Hurst

If there’s anyone that knows how to impact an offense, it’s Ja’Marr Chase.

The No. 5 overall pick from a season ago, Chase was the league's Offensive Rookie of the Year and put together one of the most impressive first seasons in league history.

Along with Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, Chase helped make the Cincinnati Bengals receiving corps one of the best in the league. He ended with 1,455 receiving yards and could build on that in 2022.

This isn’t about Chase, though. Those were just reasons why you should take his word on this, and it’s about the Bengals’ new starting tight end Hayden Hurst.

Hurst came over this offseason from Atlanta. He spent two seasons with Baltimore and two in Atlanta after being a first-round pick in 2018.

Chase has already been impressed with what the 6-foot-4 veteran brings to the table, per Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson.

“He’s bringing more ball movement for the receivers, running back and tight end now. He’s opened up more of the offense. He made a one-handed catch today across the middle. Stuff like that is going to get the defense to notice him and take the coverages away from my side, Tee’s side. They might roll to his side sometimes. That will be a big help for this offense,” Chase said.

Joe Burrow brought in some praise as well.

“He can be big for us. With the three guys we have on the outside, teams are going to be obviously focused on them, and I think Hayden’s going to have to step up, and I think he really will. He’s had a good camp. He wants to learn. He wants to get better and that’s what you ask of those guys,” Burrow said.

The Bengals lost C.J. Uzomah in free agency, so adding a talent to help pair with Drew Sample was of utmost importance. For now, it looks like they got their guy, but only time will tell if Hurst can stay healthy and impact the offense.