2020 NFL Draft: Is Chase Young too good to not go No. 1 overall?

Is Chase Young such a good 2020 NFL draft prospect that quarterback-needy teams should take him instead of a franchise signal-caller?

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young is the best player in college football and the best prospect in the 2020 NFL draft class. This guy has an incredible combination of size, speed, athleticism, power and burst on the edge that makes him an absolute nightmare for opposing offenses to deal with. Basically, Young is a perfect edge prospect who has massive upside at the next level.

On Saturday, Young returned to the Ohio State lineup after serving an undeserved two-game suspension. In that game against Penn State, Young piled up nine total tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles. He put up those numbers despite Penn State clearly holding him throughout the game. Penn State’s plan to stop Young appeared to be, “hold him and hope the ref does not see.” Clearly, it did not work well.

Young now has 16.5 sacks on the season, which is the most in the nation. He missed two games and still leads the nation in sacks. This guy is absolutely incredible. Young is the rare college football defender who legitimately deserves Heisman consideration. A quarterback will undoubtedly leave with the award, but if we are being honest, Chase Young is the best player in college football and deserves real Heisman consideration.

The Heisman Trophy is not the only battle Young will likely have with a quarterback in the next year. He will also likely be in a fight with quarterbacks to be the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Typically, when a quarterback-needy team picks No. 1 overall, they take a quarterback who can lead their team into the future. However, Young simply may be too good of a player for any team to pass up.

After the injury to Tua Tagovailoa, Joe Burrow will likely be the top quarterback prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft. Burrow is great and will likely have a strong NFL career, but any team picking number one has to at least think about Young.

While it is obviously not set in stone, the Cincinnati Bengals will probably be picking first in the 2020 NFL Draft. They obviously need a new franchise quarterback and Burrow would be the perfect kind of firey leader to lead their team. He also grew up in the state of Ohio. Simply put, it makes sense for the Bengals to bring in Burrow. However, Young’s dominant play has to give them second thoughts.

Typically, if an NFL team needs a quarterback like the Bengals clearly do, they will settle for a good quarterback prospect instead of taking an elite player at another position. There is nothing more important in football than having strong play at the quarterback position. However, there are times where an elite prospect at another position makes this decision more interesting.

The most recent example of this is the Cleveland Browns taking Myles Garrett with the first overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Browns clearly needed a quarterback, but they opted for the elite defensive prospect in Garrett instead of a quarterback. Unfortunately for Cleveland, both Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes went in the first round that year. However, Mitchell Trubisky was the first quarterback off of the board, so maybe they dodged a bullet.

As great of a prospect as Garrett was, Young is even better. He is an absolutely dominant player who could come in and make a difference right away. Chase Young is the kind of player who you can build a defense around. Pass him up at your own risk.