Summer Spotlight - Chase Young Comes Home
After a dismal 2019 campaign, in which the Washington NFL franchise finished 3-13 and ended up with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the team finally received a bit of good luck.
That good luck turned into the draft’s top overall talent, Ohio State defensive end Chase Young.
Not only was Young considered to be the draft’s top player, but he also grew up in Prince George’s County and played his high school football at the legendary DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville.
Finally, after years of bad football, Washington finally landed an elite player in the draft.
Inside the Numbers:
Young measured in at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine.
As a true freshman back in 2017, Young, a five-star recruit, played in nine games for the Buckeyes. He recorded 18 tackles, five tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He was a reserve that season.
In 2018, Young moved into a starting role opposite Nick Bosa. While Bosa would get injured after just three games, Young thrived and arrived on the national scene as Ohio State’s next star pass rusher. He finished that season with 34 tackles, 14.5 for loss and 10.5 sacks.
Bosa would go on to become the No. 2 overall pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2019 NFL Draft and become a star during his rookie season.
Young entered the 2019 season with massive expectations. He did not disappoint. Young was a nightmare for the opposition, as he accrued 46 tackles, 21 of which went for a loss, and 16.5 sacks. He also forced seven fumbles. His sacks went for a loss of 117 yards, creating a huge advantage for Ohio State.
He did all of this while missing two games due to a bogus NCAA suspension.
After the year, Young received numerous awards such as Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, unanimous All-American, Nagurski Award, Bednarik Award and Ted Hendricks Award, among others.
Once Young was drafted by Washington, the biggest debate was which jersey would he choose?
Young wore No. 2 with the Buckeyes, but that number wasn’t an option in the NFL, so he decided on No. 99.
Young joins a Washington defensive line that features five former first-round picks, including Ryan Kerrigan, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Montez Sweat and Young himself.
Young turned 21 in April.
Video Analysis/Highlights:
Young was so impactful in college, that his ability to defend the run was overlooked. That will not be an issue in the NFL.
Young was a dominant pass-rusher at Ohio State, his game against Wisconsin is one of the most dominant performances by a defender in recent college football history.
Do you want to double-team Young? Go ahead.
There are lofty expectations for Young in the NFL.
What They’re Saying:
Head coach Ron Rivera was always going to pick Young at No. 2 overall, once Cincinnati selected Joe Burrow. After his selection, Rivera had huge praise for Young, per Washington’s official website.
"He's not quite as big as Julius was," Rivera said. "He's built like him; he's a mini version of him. He's got a little bit more of that initial explosion. Julius was very long and his explosion was good, but because of his length, it seemed even better than it really, truly was.
I mean Julius was phenomenal, and this is a young man who could be that type of player."
"Von Miller comes to my mind when I watch Chase and I watch him work out and I watch the tape he's putting out," Rivera added, "so I'm pretty excited about seeing him."
Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio shared his thoughts on Young, too, per Les Carpenter of The Washington Post.
“I think the sky’s the limit for him in terms of what he will be able to bring us,” Del Rio said. “We haven’t seen him yet [on the field], but I’ve watched enough tape. He’s going to be a really good player for us.”
Mike Clay’s 2020 Projections:
Mike Clay made his projections for Washington in early April.
Mike Clay - ESPN Twitter
Since Young was drafted, he has updated his projections for some of the team’s newcomers, including Young. Clay projects Young to lead the defensive ends with 669 snaps, collect 42 tackles and finish with seven sacks.
For more Washington NFL "Summer Spotlight" features - click on the players below.
Montez Sweat - Defensive End/Edge
Ryan Kerrigan - Defensive End/Edge
Terry McLaurin - Wide Receiver
Jonathan Allen - Defensive Lineman
Caleb Brantley - Defensive Lineman
Steven Sims Jr. - Wide Receiver
Adrian Peterson - Running Back
Geron Christian - Offensive Tackle
Bryan Manning writes about the Washington Redskins for RedskinsReport.com and contributes to "All Hokies" on SI.com. He has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football and college basketball for almost 10 years for various outlets such as Bleacher Report, SB Nation, FanSided, USA Today SMG, and others. For his day job, Bryan works in engineering for a major communications company.
