2020 NFL Draft: CeeDee Lamb is WR1 in this first-round mock draft
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. EDGE. Chase Young. 2. 31. Ohio State. player
Despite some recent rumors that Chase Young is leaning towards staying at Ohio State for his senior season, I highly doubt he ends up passing up the opportunity to be a top-two pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Chase Young is truly a monster on the edge. He has a wide array of moves in his arsenal to get by blockers and to the quarterback. Once he gets there, he knows what to do, leading the NCAA in both sacks and forced fumbles.
Young has faced a stiff challenge in his last few games, as Big Ten teams finally decided to devote all their efforts to stopping Young, sending double and triple teams his way. The gameplan for opposing offenses has been to take Young away and make the other players on the Ohio State defensive line beat them. They have, as the Buckeyes remain undefeated.
To have two or three blockers thrown at him play after play speaks to how dominant Chase Young has been this season. He’s proven to be such a force that I could see NFL offenses acting similarly when Young does decide to make the jump to the next level.
Young has the perfect balance of speed and power. He can make heavy-footed tackles look silly with spins, swims and quick counter moves. If he’d rather, he can simply overpower nearly any opponent and drive them directly into the backfield. It’s nearly impossible to block Young one on one and he is effective in setting the edge against the run as well.
The Giants once had a stable of very good defensive ends going back to the days of Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul. They even traded away Olivier Vernon last offseason, leaving them without any sort of real presence on the edge. Although I think Young would fit better in a 4-3 defense, he will certainly be able to make an impact for any team in any system.
The Giants’ defense has been awful this season, but a great place to start mending that would be up front, getting pressure on the quarterback. Bringing in a guy like Chase Young who many feel is the best player in the 2020 NFL Draft would be a tremendous move for New York, giving them a high-level, NFL caliber edge rusher right away.