Washington Redskins: Impact of each rookie in 2020 season
By Hunter Noll
Chase Young, DE
Rapper Fred the Godson sadly passed away due to COVID-19. In a song, he once said “Welcome to my bar, God spittin’ the word. Rookie of the Year, Robert Griffin the third.” Griffin III was the last Redskins player to win a ROY award. Chase Young can break that (not very long) eight-year streak in 2020.
Selecting Young at No. 2 didn’t come as a surprise to anyone, Young was not only the best prospect in the draft but the best in the last few seasons. So Washington passing on him when he was falling into their laps just wasn’t going to happen. Young will make the most immediate impact possible. And a big one too.
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He’s going to be inserted into the starting lineup from the very beginning. Young holds big-time potential for sacks, tackles for loss and forcing turnovers. Basically, just being a massive playmaker.
Not only that, but he’s going to make the rest of the defense better. Montez Sweat proved he’s ready for the NFL last season. In 2019 he ended up with seven sacks, eight tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two pass deflections. Now put Young on the other side of him. That might be one of the scariest duos in football from the first snap of 2020.
Throw in Jonathan Allen, Da’Ron Payne, Ryan Kerrigan and Matthew Ioannidis and the pass rush is unfair. A good pass rush gives receivers less time to be open. It also means the quarterback isn’t going to be throwing from a clean pocket all that often. This will, in turn, make the secondary look better.
With all that in mind, Young’s impact in 2020 will be huge. He could legitimately rack up double-digit sacks and be Washington’s best defensive playmakers. The Redskins defense got a big boost with this pick, and we’ll notice it immediately.
With the addition of Young and the changes to the coaching staff, this defense could turn into one of the better in the NFL. If you ask me, that’s about as big of an impact as a rookie could make.
Immediate Impact: Defensive Superstar