Defensive line makes a stand

Chase Young is a leader already. Of the defensive line, the defense at large and the entire Washington Football Team.

- Chris Russell

Why? Because even though he’s a rookie, he’s far beyond his 21 years in terms of maturity, wisdom and killer instinct.

He’ll only get better as long as he stays healthy and while so far that has been a small challenge, Young makes a couple of plays every game that makes your jaw drop.

He was added to a group of former first-rounders in Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Montez Sweat and Ryan Kerrigan, an already good but often underachieving group that got better as the season went along because they finally feel comfortable in the defensive system and because Young draws so much attention.

Young started off his NFL career with 2½ sacks in his first two games against Philadelphia and Arizona. Then he was injured early in a loss at Cleveland, missing essentially the next two games and then it took the No. 2 overall pick a few games to hit his stride once again.

The Ohio State product has hit his stride, coincidentally enough, after getting called out by the Washington Post in a column that essentially labeled him a bust halfway through his rookie season.