Is Chase Young already better than advertised for Washington?

Is Washington Football Team rookie Chase Young already better than advertised?

The Washington Football Team selected Chase Young with the second overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. This was the obvious choice as Young was considered the best prospect in the draft. People were lauding the pass rusher as one of the best prospects in a long time, not just in the class.

With that kind of hype, it’s easy for a player to end up disappointing, especially as a rookie. However, Young did the exact opposite of that in his first NFL game. Everyone saw Young as a potential superstar in the pass-rushing game — someone that could rack up a lot of sacks.

In Week 1, Young somehow looked even better than that. He looked every bit like a perennial Defensive Player of the Year type of candidate. Against the Eagles, Young looked “meh” in his first defensive drive. That’s all he needed to get locked in, though.

Young was eating up double teams, pressuring the quarterback and making plays. In the end, he finished with four tackles, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble. There were also multiple quarterback hurries and hits in the mix. Meanwhile, he was making a lot of plays that don’t show up in the box score at all. He was filling gaps and chasing running backs outside. Young was everywhere.

The most impressive play is obvious though: that strip-sack of Carson Wentz. It truly was incredible. The play showed the strength, athleticism, smarts and absurd skill of Young all at the same time.

That’s just ridiculous. It was Young’s first career sack and, of course, he had to add a little extra something to it by forcing the fumble. What is truly absurd is not how hard that play is but how easy Young made it look. He is grabbing at Wentz’s legs and going to the ground. Somehow, he found a way to propel himself forward and reach out to slap the ball away from the quarterback.

It is that kind of next-level stuff that is going to make Young a star. That’s also what we expected from Young, though: sacks and highlight plays.

It was all that extra stuff that puts him over the top. These are things you expect to see from a wise old veteran, not a 21-year-old in his first career game. Young was finding a way to split double teams and he was reading plays correctly. That play on the screen pass is not going to be in the box score and probably wasn’t on ESPN or NFL Network. But it is a winning play.

When Chase Young was drafted, everyone had high expectations. Washington had a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate and a new star pass rusher.

It already looks like he is going to be much more than a quarterback’s nightmare when he’s running at him though. Young is going to make all the plays that help Washington win. And for that reason, he might actually be even better than advertised. This should be a fun ride.