21 Players in 21 Days: #9 Chase Lane

Chase Lane

Position: Wide Receiver
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: Houston, TX
Listed Height: 6-0
Listed Weight: 190

Key notes from Olin’s analysis of Lane

• I like him a lot. I like the threat that he is. We can really love guys for their personalities, but what we're ultimately going to judge them by is what they do on the field. Chase Lane is both. You can root for him and see that he's going places after his playing career. Right now, he can do stuff for you. He is a play-maker.

• He had 19 catches last year, and five went for 20 yards. He is a productive guy. He had a 16-yard catch on third down against Florida that made a 52-yard field goal into a chip-shot to win that game. He had a huge catch against Mississippi State and against Tennessee. Against Auburn, he had a 15-yard catch that set up the Jalen Wydermyer touchdown on the very next play, which doesn't happen if Lane doesn't make the play beforehand.

• The Aggies were trailing in the first half of the Orange Bowl, and Chase Lane made a leaping catch for 26 yards. They went on to score a touchdown, which wouldn't happen without Lane. He is a productive guy when they look to him, but they need to look to him more often.

• He's bulked up this season, which isn't surprising because A&M has one of the best strength and conditioning programs in the county with Jerry Schmidt. He is a guy with good speed, and he showed that against Mississippi State by taking a five-yard catch into a 52-yard touchdown.

• I love the idea of Chase Lane being your third or fourth option because, in man coverage, he's drawing the third or fourth-best cover man, which is a mismatch.

• When Texas won the national championship, Billy Pittman from Cameron wasn't their best receiver. He was just a starter that was in a role like Lane is now that came up big time after time. I see Chase Lane as a more athletic version of him. In a lot of places, Lane might actually be your best receiver.

• He's still a guy that defensive coordinators have to study and try to stop. Ainias Smith is the first guy you try to stop, Isaiah Spiller is next. When does Lane enter your thought? Maybe he's fourth or fifth. That's why I'm loving him. He is going to win a lot of man-to-man matchups. He gets overlooked by everybody until you look at the stat sheet. The Aggies need to look to him more.

• I don't know Lane's ratio of targets-to-catches, but I would expect it to be very high. He's also a machine on third downs.

Follow the entire 21 players in 21 days series here.