Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young was ranked 61st in the NFL Top 100 Players list this year. How far can he climb in 2022?
The NFL Top 100 rankings are currently being revealed and Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young made his debut on the list. That’s pretty impressive considering last season was his rookie year. Young was decently high up on the list too, coming in at No. 61. That begs the question, though: Just how high can he climb — and how fast can he do it? More specifically, where could we see Young in the rankings next year?
Let’s get this out of the way first, the NFL Top 100 is not some end-all-be-all ranking. If someone isn’t on there, it does not mean they aren’t a fantastic player. Likewise, you could easily make arguments that the list is wrong in a lot of ways.
It is a list made up by the players themselves, so you could argue that this holds a lot of weight. We’ve also seen a lot of players claim that they’ve never been asked once to make a player ranking, though. At the same time, we’ve seen some lists that contain a lot of players you wouldn’t put near the NFL Top 100. Presumably, this is just some people voting for their teammates or friends.
So as with any other list, don’t take it too seriously. That being said, it can still give you some insight into how some players are viewed by the NFL. For example, the fact that Chase Young made such an impression so quickly speaks volumes about just how good his rookie season was.
So what can he do to improve? Well, one big factor is the pieces around him. Despite being a rookie, we saw a lot of teams game-plan similarly for the Washington Football Team: Stop Young. The defensive end saw countless double-teams and even triple-teams. They weren’t about to let him have a one-on-one where he would be causing havoc and getting to the quarterback.
Even with the constant extra help, Young put up solid numbers. He finished the year with 44 tackles (10 for loss), 7.5 sacks, four pass deflections, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and one touchdown in 15 games.
There’s no point in pretending like Young isn’t surrounded by some great talent. Montez Sweat on the other side of the line is just unfair. Meanwhile, Jonathan Allen, Da’Ron Payne, Matthew Ioannidis and Tim Settle inside is equally mean for opposing offensive lines.
However, the secondary left some to be desired. They weren’t terrible, but could definitely use some improvements. The good news is, it looks like Washington did just that.
Of course, Kamren Curl and Kendall Fuller proved to be stars last year already. Then they brought in William Jackson III and drafted Benjamin St-Juste. Both bolster the cornerback position. Meanwhile, Bobby McCain adds a lot to the secondary as well and so does the return of Landon Collins who missed significant time last year due to injury.
The added help in the secondary will force the opposing quarterbacks to hold on to the ball a little longer, as their receivers fight to get open. Giving Young even one extra second doesn’t seem like a great idea.
After that, you can look at simple natural progression. Young’s numbers were great last year. But he’s now a year older. He’s added experience, moves, size, and so on. The numbers are going to go up. In fact, it’s not unrealistic to assume they’ll take a big leap. You could see 12-plus sacks and think nothing of it. 15 isn’t out of the realm of possibility either.
It’s not just the sack numbers though. Young disrupts the game. He makes momentum-changing plays. Four forced fumbles? That’s already nice, and it will go up. He has a knack for finding the ball and plays to that strength.
It’s what he does that might not show up on the stat sheets that will be the difference-maker. Team’s had specific game plans to stop Young in his rookie year. Imagine how much more frightened of him they’ll be this season after seeing he’s the real deal last year. That shows respect. The type of respect that might make players rank Chase Young higher in the next NFL Top 100.
So where will he land? Top 50? Absolutely. Top 25? Yes. Top 10? It could happen. Probably a safe bet to say wait at least one more year before he takes that leap. But he has the talent and athleticism that it’s not too crazy to think it could happen next year. Let’s play it safe and say Young will squeeze in right around No. 20 on the next list.
Chase Young is different from anyone we’ve seen in a long time. He’s a true generational talent. We could see him at the top of this list sooner, rather than later. The Washington Football Team has a legitimate legitimate superstar.