Top WR Ja’Marr Chase De-commits from Florida

In a move that’s not all that shocking, top flight receiver Ja’Marr Chase of Metairie’s Archbishop Rummel, re-opened his recruitment last night, via Twitter:

If you’ll flashback to this summer, Chase was set to pick his college choice on the NFL network, which was then bumped by the network, in one of those “that’s kinda shitty” moments. At the time, TCU were the betting favorite for his services. A couple weeks later he somewhat surprisingly committed to Florida, after taking in their famed Friday Night Lights recruiting event.

Chase has long been quite fickle in his recruitment. He’s kept LSU at an arms distance and many believe it’s due to the lack of effort former LSU WR coach Dameyune Craig put forward in recruiting him as a young player. Orgeron and Mickey Joseph have actively been working to mend the relationship, though LSU seems to continually remain on outside looking in in his recruitment.

In recruiting circles, many thought time would wear on enough that Chase would eventually wind up flipping his commitment to the in-state program. It’s well known that his family would prefer him to play for the in-state Tigers.

Even still, most don’t take this de-commitment as anything impending or positive toward LSU, but perhaps for TCU and maybe even Georgia, who have ramped up their pursuit.

The staff will obviously continue their pursuit. Chase is a top-100 prospect that reminds me a bit of former LSU signee Tyron Johnson. At 6-1, 195, he’s got the size to be an outside, every down threat. My lone concern sits with how he’s handled his recruitment to date. Perhaps it’s anecdotal, but I don’t recall many recruits that typically handle their recruitment like a show and flip between multiple schools that wind up with top flight production. I’m not at all against a kid having a good time in his recruitment. By all means, enjoy the visits and red carpet treatment. Some kids handle it better than others and at this point, it seems Chase is just trying to make an attention-grabbing splash rather than doing what’s best for himself.

That, of course, doesn’t mean LSU is necessarily what’s best, either. TCU has churned out some tremendous offenses and Georgia is in year-two of what looks like a stout build with a good young QB.

It will be interesting to see what direction Chase turns in the coming weeks. He has yet to take an official visit and actually took in a game at Tiger Stadium in September. He also ventured to Gainesville when LSU played the Gators. The staff will keep pushing: But will it matter?