Chase Young earned runaway Defensive Rookie of the Year nod

Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young won the 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year award in runaway fashion — and deservingly so. 

Saturday night was award night for the NFL, and the Washington Football Team went home with a few shiny trophies. Quarterback Alex Smith was named the Comeback Player of the Year and defensive end Chase Young took home the Defensive Rookie of the Year honors — as he should have.

When Washington took Chase Young with the second-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, many expected greatness. In fact, immediate greatness was asked of Young; and he delivered.

The defensive end appeared in 15 games in his rookie season. In that time, he racked up 44 tackles (10 for loss), 7.5 sacks, four pass deflections, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and one defensive touchdown.

Young was a constant presence on the field. He was almost always working against double teams or at the very least a second-level blocker as the tight end or running back would be waiting to pick him up if needed. Teams were focusing heavily on him and that impacted the entire defensive extremely positively. So even when Young wasn’t pouring in stats in the box score, he was helping in a major way.

Let’s be honest though, the numbers were still really strong. It’s incredible to see how well he played and yet there are still a lot of people that feel he was disappointing. Young made everyone better. He was a leader on the field and in the locker room.

The secondary still has holes in it, but Young’s constant pressure helped them mask a lot of those problems. Montez Sweat also benefitted heavily. It took a lot of pressure and attention off of him, and allowed Sweat to put up a monster year. He finished with nine sacks, two forced fumbles, six pass deflections, one interception, and one defensive touchdown.

A lot of that can be contributed to his own improvements, but Young absolutely played a part in that.

Washington ended up having one of the more dominant defensive lines — and that is with Matthew Ioannidis missing most of the season due to injury. Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne were both great, as was Tim Settle. Like with Sweat, you can’t discredit any of those players, they’re all extremely talented. But Young certainly made things easier for them.

If we are being honest, Young sort of ran away with the award. His biggest competition might have been his own teammate, seventh-round draft pick safety Kamren Curl. With 88 tackles (four for loss), two sacks, four pass deflections, three interceptions, and one defensive touchdown he became a star in his rookie year.

Young and Sweat could be a deadly pass rushing duo for a long time and Young and Curl could make for one of the better defensive drafts in a long time. However, it is all about Chase Young right now. The Washington Football Team landed him at number two in the 2020 NFL Draft and he lived up to the billing.

Not only did Young have a very productive rookie season, but he showed all the makings of an elite and unstoppable defensive superstar. This Defensive Rookie of the Year award likely isn’t the last big achievement Young gets in what should be a long and decorated career.