Four-star receiver JaMarr Chase wowed folks at Nike’s The Opening, causing the recruit’s stock to rise significantly in the eyes of many. However, a split-second decision by NFL Network may have cost TCU the chance to land this young man, according to Barton Simmons of 247Sports.com.
Per Simmons, Chase had originally planned to make an announcement about which school he’d be committing to on July 2, which is his grandmother’s birthday. However, he decided to bump that announcement one day so that he could do it on NFL Network. Unfortunately for him, NFL Network bumped Chase’s spot due to another recruit’s segment running too long.
Talk about a punch to the gut.
Though, there could be a silver lining for Chase, whose play at The Opening was spectacular. Not so for TCU, however, according to Simmons.
“The tea leaves were indicating that Gary Patterson was likely to land Chase over the home-state LSU Tigers had he committed on schedule. However, Chase was so good at The Opening and his stock has shot up so much that it now looks like he’s going to take a step back and re-evaluate his options. If TCU ends up losing Chase to LSU or some other national power, they can thank the NFL Network for the sabotage.”
The Horned Frogs would no doubt love to bring in Chase to fortify their receiving corps. But it looks like that may never happen.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this developing story. If Chase does end up landing a prime gig at a top school, Patterson and Co. will look back at this snafu and wonder what could have been.