Redskins: Dissecting the narratives surrounding the 2020 NFL Draft

No. 1 – “Chase Young is perfect”

There seem to be two extremes in the Chase Young discussion. One extreme claims that he’s perfect, while the other claims he’s due to be a bust, and isn’t worth the No. 2 overall pick. These extremes are destined to clash against one another even after Young is drafted, but neither of them have a place in rational discussion.

Let’s confront the positive extreme first. Young is a great prospect, but he’s not a perfect prospect, and he’s not a 100-percent guaranteed hit at No. 2 overall. No one is. Young has a lot of quality traits, but he does still need to add power to his game consistently, and he has some issues with leveraging, especially in run defense.

There’s also the issue of team need, in the Redskins’ case, as they’d arguably be better served addressing a more immediate need than edge. This argument has merit, as defender Isaiah Simmons,cornerback Jeffrey Okudah, and offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs are all top-tier 2020 NFL Draft prospects who better fit the Redskins’ outlook of needs.

With Ryan Kerrigan aging, there’s enough of a need at edge to safely pick Young; it’s not like the Redskins are abandoning need altogether. But Young isn’t a perfect prospect, nor a perfect fit for the team’s need outlook. Teams that fail to accept these things get tunnel vision, and it can contribute to them missing out on more impactful prospects.

That said, Washington likely shouldn’t have this issue with Chase Young, as we’ll explain on the next slide.