Chase Young


Chase Young is an American football defensive end for the Washington Football Team of the National Football League. Born and raised in Maryland, he later attended Ohio State University and played for the Buckeyes from 2017 to 2019. He broke the school's single-season sack record with 16.5 in his final season, winning him several honors such as the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, and Ted Hendricks Award. He was also named a unanimous All-American and a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, a feat considered rare for a defensive player. He was selected by Washington, then known as the Redskins, with the second pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early career

Chase Young was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on April 14, 1999. He began playing American football as a child, later attending St. Columba School in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Following that, he began attending St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland in 2013, where he started at quarterback and outside linebacker as a freshman before switching to defensive end later that year. As a sophomore the following year, he and the team won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C-conference championship. He was also a member of the school's choir, playing the piano, saxophone, and violin.
In 2015, he transferred to DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he had 19 sacks and 27 tackles for loss as a junior, helping the team win the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship. In July 2016, he was invited to The Opening, a college football recruiting camp sponsored by Nike, where he was named positional MVP. As a senior in 2016, he had 19 sacks, 118 tackles, 5 forced fumbles, and 2 defensive touchdowns that helped the team go undefeated and win another WCAC championship. By then, he was recognized as one of the best high school football players in the nation, where he was included on the 2016 USA Today All-USA team and named all-metropolitan defensive football player of the year by the Washington Post. He was also invited to the International Bowl and All-American Bowl, playing on the East team for the latter.

College career

Young received scholarship offers from over 40 colleges before committing to Ohio State University in July 2016, choosing them over other schools such as Alabama and Maryland for two main reasons. One reason was because he felt that their approach was more "family-oriented", and the other reason was because Buckeyes defensive line coach Larry Johnson had personally recruited him, and Young considered him a "guru". As a freshman in 2017, Young recorded 3.5 sacks, 18 tackles, and a forced fumble as a reserve player. Young became a starter during his sophomore season, lining up alongside Nick Bosa before he suffered a season-ending injury early in the season. Despite spraining both ankles midway mid-season, Young recorded 10.5 sacks that year, including three against Northwestern in the 2018 Big Ten Football Championship Game. He was named to that season's second-team All-Big Ten team for his performance.
Young was named one of the team captains as a junior in 2019. That year, he tied Ohio State school records for single-game sacks and tackles for loss in a win against Wisconsin. In November 2019, Young was suspended for two games by the NCAA for getting an unauthorized loan from a family friend to allegedly help his girlfriend attend the 2019 Rose Bowl, which he later repaid in full. In his first game after being reinstated, Young recorded three sacks against Penn State. He ended the season with 16.5 sacks, 46 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 7 forced fumbles, 3 batted passes, and a blocked field goal. His 16.5 sacks broke the single-season school record previously held by Vernon Gholston, who had 14 in 2007.
Young won several awards and honors for his performance that season, including the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Ted Hendricks Award, Chicago Tribune Silver Football, Nagurski–Woodson Defensive Player of the Year, and Smith–Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year. In addition, he was named the Walter Camp defensive player of the week for his performances against Wisconsin and Penn State, and was unanimously named to the 2019 All-Big Ten and All-America teams. He was also named a finalist for the Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award, and Heisman Trophy, becoming only the ninth defensive player since 1982 to be nominated for the latter, where he finished fourth in voting behind quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Fields. Young was also voted the Big Ten Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year, which honors the conference's top male athlete of any sport. He was the seventh football player to win it since its inception in 1982, and the first since Ron Dayne in 2000. Young finished his career at Ohio State with 30.5 total sacks in three seasons, which ranks second all-time there behind Mike Vrabel, who had 36 in four seasons. He was also named to the Big Ten Network's 2010s All-Decade Team as the only unanimous selection.

Statistics

Professional career

Young decided to forgo his senior year at Ohio State by declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft, where he was considered by many to be the best overall prospect in it. He attended the NFL Combine but did not participate in any workouts or drills, stating that he did not want to waste time being a "combine athlete." Young was one of 58 players invited to the draft, which was held virtually due to social distancing regulations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, where he was selected by the Washington Football Team, then known as the Redskins, with the second overall pick. Prior to the season, he was considered to be a leading candidate to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He signed his four-year rookie contract, worth 34.56 million, on July 23, 2020.

Personal life

Young's father, Greg, played college basketball at Bowie State University before working as a police deputy with the Arlington County Sheriff's Office, while his mother, Carla, works for the Office of Investigations for the Department of Transportation. Young has a sister, Weslie, who played college basketball at North Carolina Wesleyan. Young also played other sports while growing up, such as basketball and sprinting. In basketball, he played alongside Markelle Fultz at DeMatha, who was later selected first overall in the 2017 NBA draft. Both Young and Fultz set goals to be the first overall draft pick in their respective sports as high schoolers.
At Ohio State, Young pursued a major in criminology after being inspired by his father and several of his uncles and cousins, who all work in law enforcement. He has a tattoo of Carl H. Robinson, his late grandfather and US Air Force veteran, on his right arm. Young is nicknamed "The Predator" for his on-field dominance as well as his dreadlocks resembling Predators from the Predator franchise.