Chase Young is widely considered to be the best overall player in the 2020 NFL Draft, but at least one scout thinks he’s not even the best pass rusher in this year’s class.
Sharing quotes from anonymous NFL scouts in a column about the top edge rushers in the draft, Bob McGinn of The Athletic noted at least one of them likes LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson better than he likes Young.
“I liked him more than Chase Young,” a scout said, per McGinn. “This guy knows where the quarterback is. There’s so many guys that just line up and just rush. He has got hand use. He can make that inside move. If he gets pushed inside he’ll go chase the quarterback. Chase Young isn’t that energetic.”
Young is slated to be selected very early in this year’s draft, and nobody would bat an eyelash if he goes No. 2 overall to the Washington Redskins. Many have expressed the opinion that he’s even better than Nick Bosa, who went to the San Francsico 49ers in that same draft slot last year.
That isn’t a universally-held belief, though. In the same column, McGinn shared that another scout thinks Young isn’t as talented as Jadeveon Clowney and “puts it in cruise control” too often.
“I don’t think he’s as talented as Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney was lazy. Cruise control isn’t a term that I use but that’s exactly what (Young) does. He puts it in cruise control. He was dominant anyway, but he picked his spots. He overpowers guys or just runs around those big, slow tackles in the Big Ten.”
For what it’s worth, Young was an absolute wrecking ball last year for the Buckeyes. Even despite missing two games due to suspension, he led the FBS with 16.5 sacks and disrupted opposing quarterbacks on a regular basis.
These quotes are going to be fascinating to file away for later use.