BATON ROUGE -- Ja’Marr Chase’s LSU days are officially over.
The junior wide receiver announced his decision via Twitter on Tuesday.
“After 2 weeks of discussing with my family I have decided to officially declare for the 2021 NFL Draft,” Chase tweeted out.
The 2019 Biletnikoff Award winner opted out of the 2020 football season just two weeks ago. Last year, as the nation’s top wider receiver, Chase hauled in 84 catches for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns.
The Archbishop Rummel graduate caught 23 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns two seasons ago.
Despite having one year of eligibility left, most thought that he would declare for the draft. He is expected to be a high first round pick.
In other LSU football notes, senior defensive end Neil Farrell is planning to opt back into the season. Farrell, who recorded 46 tackles and three sacks in 2019, had decided to opt out back in August when it was discovered that his grandmother had contracted the COVID-19 virus.
Farrell tweeted this past Thursday that “My grandmother Is getting better each and every day & I thank God for that ..... I miss football.”
Another LSU opt out, defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin, is thought to be considering opting back in. The junior Notre Dame High School graduate played in 14 games last season, starting in 13 of those games.
Shelvin posted 39 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss. He had a career high six tackles against Georgia Southern.
LSU opens their season on September 26 against Mississippi State and then will travel to Vanderbilt the next week before hosting Missouri on October 10.
Their first big test of the year comes the following week when they travel to Florida.
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Tracey Jagneaux
Sports Editor