INDIANAPOLIS – If you listen to all the pre-draft hype, you are not shocked that the crowd around Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was massive as everyone wanted a chance to talk to the next great defensive end product out of Ohio State as he is assured of being a top-five pick in the upcoming draft.
Young checks off all the boxes that everyone is looking for and when he was measured for the combine came in at a well-put together 6-foot-4 7/8ths and 264 pounds and has tape and more tape to show just how disruptive of a player that he can be. He set the Ohio State single-season record for sacks, despite missing two games due to a suspension and not recording a sack after returning.
Just because he did not record a sack does not mean that he was not productive in those final games and nobody recognizes that better than the NFL brass who are looking to make Young a very wealthy player in just a few months.
Like the Bosa brothers before him, Young has all the tools to be successful at the next level and now just needs the opportunity once his name is called. Chase and Nick Bosa overlapped during their careers and are still very close.
"Nick, he's always setting the standard," Young said. "That's just motivation for me to achieve a lot of real good things. It's definitely been a blessing to watch him grow into the player that he is. He's definitely helped me along this passage. He hasn't stopped. I'm just grateful to be able to see him grow."
Any advice from Nick about all of this?
"He just told me to be myself," Young added. "That's what I have been trying to do the whole time I've been here."
With Joey Bosa going No. 3 overall in 2016 and Nick Bosa going No. 2 overall in 2019, Young would have to go No. 1 overall to improve upon that, but with Joe Burrow in this draft and the quarterback necessity that so many teams have, it might be difficult to overcome that hurdle.
Does Young feel he is the best player in the draft?
"I definitely think I'm the best player in the draft," Young said. "I think I showed it on my tape. You can go to every game. I think I showed it. I definitely think I'll put my best foot forward this year. I grinded hard. Two of my biggest things are my hard work and dedication and I'm going to bring those two to the NFL with me."
Young has opted not to work out at the combine and will instead work out at Ohio State's Pro Day. He is not alone when it comes to top picks declining to do the on-field work at the combine this year, especially as the schedule has moved from morning work to evening work.
"We decided that because that first day of camp when I step on the field, I want to be the best player I can be," Young said. "I don't want to waste time trying to be a combine athlete. When I step on the field, I know, I need to know that I put my best foot forward as far as being the best player I can be."
But don't look for Young to run a 40, even then.
If you take the draft order at face value and without any unforeseen trades, Washington may be the destination for Young, even though the Redskins need a lot more than a pass rusher.
Young may be too good to pass up on.
This would also mean that could essentially go home as a Hyattsville (Md.) native, less than 10 miles from Washington (D.C.) and would also create a reunion with a couple of former teammates in Dwayne Haskins and Terry McLaurin.
"(Dwayne and I) talk all the time," Young said when asked about that possibility. "I've known Dwayne since high school. He definitely loves the organization and obviously wants me to come play with him. We'll see how this whole thing turns out."
Young has had no shortage of former teammates to talk to about this whole event and he has taken their advice to heart.
"They just say be a pro," Young said. "That's what I've been trying I do. They say don't goof off when you're up here and in talking to people. Relationships are everything. Treat everybody with respect. And that's what I have done my whole time here."
