LSU Football: Ja’Marr Chase almost didn’t end up in Baton Rouge

LSU football’s Ja’Marr Chase is one of the top players in the nation, but a quick trip down memory lane shows us that he wasn’t always a slam dunk for the Tigers.

LSU football’s Ja’Marr Chase was the best wide receiver in the country in 2019.

And he was only a sophomore.

The Tigers will fortunately get another year of Chase in Baton Rouge, before he undoubtedly heads to the NFL after the 2020 season.

While it will be disappointing to see Chase leave LSU, fans of the Tigers should just be happy he ended up signing with his home state school.

The New Orleans native originally committed to Kansas, before committing to Florida in 2017.

Chase initially stuck with his commitment to the Gators when Jim McElwain was fired as Florida’s head coach. However, Chase quickly decided that re-opening his commitment was his best option.

But even after decommitting from Florida, Chase was still far from a lock for LSU.

Chase’s final decision ended up coming down between a pair of Tigers — Auburn and LSU.

A visit from LSU’s entire coaching staff — just before National Signing Day in 2018 — helped sway Chase toward Baton Rouge.

But just barely.

Chase admitted that he was feeling Auburn the night before his final decision, but LSU’s proximity to New Orleans ended up being a major factor in his decision to sign with Ed Orgeron and company.

And oh boy are the Tigers glad he chose LSU.

Chase put up modest numbers as a true freshman, catching 23 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns.

This past season, he took his game to another level. Chase hauled in 84 passes for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also won the Biletnikoff Award.

The former four-star recruit, who was rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 15 wide receiver in the nation, probably won’t put up those same numbers in 2020 without Joe Burrow under center.

But I’d still expect Chase to put up some fantastic numbers and once again win the Biletnikoff Award.

It’s wild to look back and think that Chase almost ended up at another SEC program. But fortunately for LSU, he decided to stay to home.