Washington Football Team: Chase Young, it’s time to Put up your Dukes

It’s been 12 years since the Washington Football Team has finished with a top-10 defense in points and total yards allowed. That will more than likely change in 2020. One reason why? The emergence of ‘The Predator’ Chase Young.

In his rookie season, Chase Young has already become an impact player on the Washington Football Team‘s defense. The former Ohio State product played a vital role in Washington’s upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you look at his stat line, it’s less than pedestrian. As the second overall pick in the draft, two measly tackles and zero sacks are nothing to get excited about. However, it was those two tackles in the first half that set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Without Chase Young’s goal-line stop on fourth-and-goal from the one, Pittsburgh more than likely remains undefeated. Down 14-0, Young’s tenacious effort on a third-and-two prevented Juju Smith-Schuster and the Steelers’ offense from extending a drive late in the first half. The key stop led to a field goal for Washington before halftime.

In the second half, the Washington Football Team clamped down as they held the Steelers to just a field goal. The defense also forced a turnover on downs, an interception, and three punts. They also limited Pittsburgh to just 123 yards of total offense in the second half.

If you are a fan of trench warfare, then the battle between Chase Young and Trent Williams will be fun to watch. On Sunday, Young will face the toughest assignment of his young career against Williams.

This matchup is arguably the biggest subplot within the game itself. Drafted by Washington fourth overall in 2010, Trent Williams has developed into one of the best tackles in the NFL. Although Williams had an ugly departure from the franchise, he was arguably the best player on the entire team during his nine-year career. Now he is facing his former team for the first time. This past week, Williams spoke highly of Chase Young as he compared him to Nick Bosa.

"“Chase just has a lot of athletic ability that you can’t teach and it’s literally just a gene-pool lottery and I think he’s going to be a heck of a player in this league for years to come.”"

The common theme in each of San Francisco’s losses is turnovers. In six of the 49ers’ seven losses, they’ve committed at least two turnovers. Even in three wins versus the Patriots, Jets, and Rams, the 49ers committed a combined six turnovers. This is an area where Chase Young and the Washington defense has to get better before they are considered elite. Washington only has 14 total turnovers on the season, which ranks 22nd in the NFL.

In the first two games of the season, Chase Young registered 2.5 sacks, two quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and eight tackles. Young sustained a groin injury versus Cleveland in Week 3 and missed the Baltimore game. When he returned to the starting lineup, offenses actually began to hone in and game-plan for Young.

Despite the extra attention and double-teams, Chase Young is still finding ways to impact the game and make a difference in the locker room. Even though he’s a rookie, Young has already become an emotional leader of the team. Young’s pregame speech before the Bengals game was one that would have made Ray Lewis proud.

Before the game, Young repeatedly asked his teammates, “These 16 days out of the year, why can’t you be a dog? There are 16 days out of the year, why can’t you be a dog? There are16 days out of 365 days, why you can’t be a dog?” Since Young delivered that speech, the Washington Football Team is on a three-game win streak. To extend it to four, they’ll need a dominant effort from Chase Young and the rest of the dogs on Washington’s defense.