Chase Young part of Commanders’ defensive line Browns prepping for
BEREA — Jack Conklin can relate to Washington Commanders and former Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. Maybe not the freakish combination of size, quick-twitch and speed, but certainly the journey to get back on the field after a knee injury.
Conklin made his return back on Sept. 22 after tearing his patellar tendon on Nov. 28, 2021, costing the Browns right tackle the final five games of the season. Two weeks earlier, on Nov. 14, Young tore his ACL and ruptured his patellar tendon.
On Christmas Eve, after a 13-month rehab, the 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year made his return to the field in Washington’s loss at San Francisco. Conklin couldn’t help but note what he saw from Young, even in just 30 snaps.
“He looks good,” Conklin told the Beacon Journal. “Obviously, I know what it’s like to come back from a knee and stuff. It’s taken him a while, so I’m sure he’s having to get back into things. He makes plays, even coming back in his first game. He’s a good player. There’s a reason why he was drafted so high.”
Conklin wasn’t just some casual observer to what Young did in his return. On Sunday, the Browns right tackle may very well have to deal with Young on several occasions when they travel to face the Commanders.
Of Young’s 30 snaps against the 49ers, two-thirds of them had him lining up on the right side of the defensive line, which would put him opposite of left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. However, they did put him on the left side for 10 plays, which is the same side he played a majority of his snaps in the 2021 season prior to his injury.
“Still explosive,” Wills said. “Still big, athletic, pops out on film. Gotta make sure that we get a body on him. Do good against him.”
Young draws a lot of attention because of what he can be when healthy. The 23-year-old doesn’t just possess the typical speed and quickness one normally sees out of an edge rusher.
At that size, Young also possesses size that’s like what one sees in the Browns’ tandem of Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney. At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, Young has a similar frame to the 6-4, 272-pound Garrett or the 6-5, 255-pound Clowney.
“Chase, I wish we got to see more of him this year,” Garrett said. “He reminds me of the Bosas, especially like (San Francisco’s) Nick, of being really good with his hands, being athletic, having a multitude of moves, being strong but also fast and that unpredictability what he comes off and he’s able to get into a move out of the same set he would do two or three other moves. So he’s mostly got the whole package.”
The Commanders didn’t want to put it all back on Young in his first game back. Still, his 30 snaps accounted for 58% of the total number of defensive snaps for Washington.
Even in those relatively limited snaps, Young managed to impress. Specifically, he impressed by what he was able to do against one of the best left tackles in football, Trent Williams.
“I mean, he was playing against Trent a couple times, had a couple good inside moves on him,” All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio said. “I mean, you could tell, he looks physically strong to me. He had a lot of time to train and get big. I mean, he’s always been kind of freak of nature. But, no, he adds another element.”
That element only elevates what is one of the better young defensive lines in football. Young is one of four former first-round draft picks who starts for Washington on its defensive front, with 2017 first-rounder Jonathan Allen and 2018 first-rounder Daron Payne starting at defensive tackle between Young and 2019 first-rounder Montez Sweat at ends.
Allen and Payne are tied for the NFL lead among defensive tackles with 16 tackles for loss apiece. Since 2021, Allen is sixth among NFL defensive tackles with 16.5 sacks and first in quarterback hits among that position group with 47, while Payne is eighth with 14 sacks and tied for sixth in hits with 32.
Sweat, meanwhile, is ranked eight among 121 qualifying edge rushers by Pro Football Focus with a grade of 87.4 out of 100. His run-defense grade of 79.3 ranks sixth among edge rusher.
“I mean (Young’s) their fourth first-rounder up there, and they’re all really playing at a high level right now,” Bitonio said. “The other three guys are playing at a high level, so bring him into the mix, that’s four guys you have to account for and it helps them. They don’t have to pressure as much with other positions. They can rush four and get home. I think they’re one of the lower teams on blitz rate, but higher teams on pressure rate in the league. So that’s a standard for success when you play defense.”
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