Did Ron Rivera just figure out why Chase Young is struggling?

Outside of Terry McLaurin and Jonathan Allen, it’s probably fair to say that all of the Washington Football Team’s high-profile players have underperformed in 2021.

Think about it. Before he was moved to a box linebacker, Landon Collins was arguably the worst defender in the NFL. William Jackson, a man corner throughout his career, has been a disaster in Washington’s zone scheme.

In regard to the offense, Curtis Samuel, who signed a three-year, $34.5 million deal in free agency, has appeared in just two games and is a candidate to land on IR for the second time this season if he doesn’t practice this week.

Getting back to the defense, Montez Sweat and Chase Young have perhaps been the most disappointing players on the roster. The two stars discussed setting the combined sack record for teammates and have just 5.5 through eight games.

If you can believe it, just 1.5 of those have come from Young. Fans are stumped in terms of what has been preventing Young from making a game-wrecker, but Ron Rivera seems to think he’s identified the root of his problem.

Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera offered insight into Chase Young’s first half struggles.

"“One of the things that was really prevalent [from Young’s rookie film was you can see him sticking to the edge a little bit longer before he ducked inside,” Rivera told the media on Monday.“Sometimes Chase starts outside and plants his leg and cuts inside — because he’s trying to make a play — and the quarterback gets flushed to the outside. If Chase stays outside, he has an easy sack, but instead he dives underneath.”"

It sounds like a simple fix, but if you go back and rewatch some games from this season, Young is oddly diving inside at an alarming rate. In doing so, the former second overall pick is making life easy for opposing quarterbacks.

Since Young isn’t containing the edge, quarterbacks, even ones who aren’t the fleetest of foot, can maneuver outside the pocket and extend plays. If the Ohio State product were to be a bit more patient and pinch the edge (same goes for Sweat), quarterbacks would be forced to hang around in the pocket.

In theory, that would put Young — as well as Sweat, Allen, Daron Payne, etc. — in a better position to record a sack.

That’s a great stat and missed tackling has no doubt plagued Washington’s defense this season, but shouldn’t we expect that from a former heavily-coveted prospect? The last time we checked, he was drafted to record sacks and pressure opposing QBs. Gloating about him being a sound tackler is setting a low standard.

So, on top of refraining from ducking inside, what can help Young start to be more productive? Per Rivera, he needs to be more disciplined.

“‘I know you want to make plays, but the thing you’ve got to do is you’ve got to be patient, be disciplined and let the plays come to you.”

In addition, Rivera has noticed that Young hasn’t been overly physical when teams use a running back or tight end to chip him. Those chips have obviously impeded Young’s path to the backfield and Rivera would like to see the former Buckeye show off his brute strength in those situations.

As a former longtime linebacker in the NFL, it would behoove Young to listen to his head coach’s advice. It seems like the 22-year-old is too eager to make an impact and that’s playing right into opposing teams’ game plans to neutralize him.

If Young starts slowing down, perhaps he’ll start seeing better results.