Morning Coffee: Can Chase top his stellar 2024 season?

Alright, my annual Sportscentre newsroom fantasy football league draft is in the books.

Transparently, I’m fully aware that I’m in far too many fantasy leagues – football, hockey, basketball, baseball.

In case you didn’t know, I got my start at TSN as an intern in the newsroom more than a decade ago.

From intern to story editor, to story associate, to highlight manager, and then to producing Sportscentre, I still carry with me countless great memories from spending nearly a decade in the newsroom.

And I’m still not ready to quit the league I joined with a lot of the friends I grew up with working on the row in those early TSN days.

Anyways, it’s an annual redraft league, and I took running back Bijan Robinson with the second overall pick.

Transparently, I would have preferred Ja’Marr Chase first overall, but I was happy to grab Robinson and I’m still feeling pretty good about my roster this morning.

What does this any of this have to do with a FanDuel Best Bet on the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year?

As I mentioned, Chase is the obvious 1.01 this season.

He’s also the second choice to win the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year at +800 at FanDuel.

Only Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has shorter odds to win that award.

There are a few criteria I like to check off before I place a futures wager in the NFL awards market.

When it comes to AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Chase checks all those boxes.

This is Morning Coffee for Friday August 22^nd, 2025.

Can Ja’Marr Chase Top His Stellar 2024 Season?

The AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year award is as much about narratives, vibes, and memorable moments as it is registering elite stats.

Last season, Chase was a legitimate contender for the award after he led the NFL with 127 receptions, 1,708 receiving yards, and 17 touchdowns in 17 games.

Ultimately, he was a runner-up to Barkley, who won the league’s rushing title while leading the Eagles to an NFC East title that set the stage for a Super Bowl run.

Remember this?

Considering how dominant they were at their positions; it shouldn’t be a surprise that Barkley and Chase are the top choices to win AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

Barkley is the favourite at +600.

Chase is the second choice at +800.

No other player is shorter than +1200 to win the award.

In terms of the actual bet count, Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs has emerged as the most popular pick to win the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year at FanDuel.

17.9 per cent of the bets are on Gibbs to win OPOY.

Once again, Chase is second on the list, accounting for 16 per cent of the total bet count in that FanDuel market.

There are three key criteria to check off for Chase.

First, he’s an elite talent that has already separated himself among the best at his position entering the prime of his career at 25-years-old.

It’s easy to forget how young he is, but Chase is only two years older than the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft – Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward.

In addition to the elite talent, there is also the need for Chase to go all-out during the regular season.

Per the FanDuel traders, the Bengals are the most popular bet to miss the playoffs this season.

The fact that Cincinnati is both the fourth choice to win the AFC Championship and the most popular pick to miss the playoffs is enough for me to classify them as the most boom-or-bust team in the NFL.

The Bengals aren’t expected to win many games because of their defence.

With quarterback Joe Burrow and fellow wide receiver Tee Higgins both healthy entering the season, the expectations are that Cincinnati’s offence will carry them to a playoff spot.

It might take a full 17 games for the Bengals to get there.

They’ve already put in the work this pre-season.

The fact that Cincinnati will need to lean on its offence over the course of a full 17-game season checks another box on my list of criteria.

Will Barkley play a full 17-game schedule for the Eagles?

What about Derrick Henry for the Baltimore Ravens?

Finally, I do believe that the current odds for Chase to win AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year will shift drastically throughout the first few weeks of the season.

The Bengals open against the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Minnesota Vikings before a highly anticipated trip to face the Denver Broncos in Week 4.

There’s a good chance that Chase leads the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown receptions by the time the Bengals travel to face one of the best defences in the NFL in Denver.

Then in Week 5, Cincinnati has a potential shootout against the Detroit Lions.

With primetime games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ravens, and Miami Dolphins from October on, Chase will have plenty of opportunities to add to a long list of memorable performances.

The fact that he might need to play against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 and the Browns in Week 18 to help the Bengals make the playoffs is even more intriguing.

Of course, a lot can change over the course of an NFL season and there is always the potential for a big year to be disrupted by injury.

That said, Chase is an elite talent entering the prime of his career with a legitimate franchise quarterback in Burrow on a team that will need to air it out all year as they chase a playoff spot in the loaded AFC.

Give me Chase to win AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year at +800 odds.

Hopefully, the fact that I had to settle for Robinson with the second overall pick in my Sportscentre newsroom fantasy football league draft doesn’t come back to haunt me as I cheer on Chase to win OPOY this season.

Have a great weekend, everyone!