Chase Young Still Has Matters to Weigh on NFL Decision

Ohio State defensive end won't tackle future plans until Playoff ends

It's a forgone conclusion to everyone but the man who has to reach the conclusion, or so Ohio State defensive end Chase Young says regarding his departure after this season for the NFL.

Young, the nation's most lauded defensive player and the fourth-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy balloting, said Tuesday he has not determined whether he will return to Ohio State for his senior season or enter the April NFL Draft.

Why would Young even consider coming back, given his future in the NFL is secure.

"I feel like everyone doesn't know what I want to accomplish in my college career at the University of Ohio State, " Young said. "I'm definitely going to have a few things I'm going to have to weigh."

That will come as news -- or a prank -- to NFL fans, particularly those of the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, who deemed their Sunday game, The Chase for Chase.

Young smiled and nodded when asked if he knew that.

"Only because people tell me," he said. "It's not like I go out and look for it, but, yeah, I knew that."

The Giants' overtime win handed Washington the win in the Young sweepstakes, meaning he is positioned -- assuming LSU quarterback Joe Burrow goes first to Cincinnati -- to play for the Redskins, which already have former Buckeyes Dwayne Haskins and Terry McLaurin.

Young, though, wouldn't commit to being glad about the result, even though he grew up near Washington in, Hyattsville, Md.

"I ain't even worried," Young said. "I ain't trippin' about nothing."

Clemson probably is, because its chances of winning a College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday could hinge on how successfully it blocks Young.

Few Big Ten teams did that well this season, given Young's school-record 16.5 quarterback sacks, which led the nation.

He would have put up bigger numbers if not suspended from the Rutgers and Maryland games for taking an illegal summer loan from a friend.

Young might be perilously close -- or beyond -- the Ohio State career sack record he currently stands six from claiming.

But neither that nor his NFL future are on his mind now, even though to most the decision he has yet to make is no decision at all.

"I feel like if God allows me to pursue a career on the next level then he will," Young said. It's a decision you have to make with your family. It's a decision, rigth now, where we are, you're not even really worried about.

"We have one game, possibly two games on the line left in your career, and those are the biggest games of your career. So I feel like that whole decision, that can just wait until after the season for me."

 Young will be spared the unknown many players face as to whether leaving school early will result in being taken in the first round vs. the second, or being taken at all.

He knows the consensus opinion is that he goes no lower than No. 2 overall.

"You see it," he said. "People tell you all the time. Like, one of my key focuses this year was not to pay attention to outside noise. I feel like I've done a pretty good job of doing that this year. That's why I've played to the level that I have.

"My coach, my family, my teammates, they helped me stay locked in. Myself, I think I did a really good job. I applaud myself for not listening to the good and bad or what people say. I felt like  at the end of the day, it was a distraction. When you're up, they're going to praise you. When you're down, they're going to talk bad about you. You can't really focus on that."

For the latest on Ohio State follow Sports Illustrated Buckeye Maven on Facebook or @BuckeyeMaven on Twitter.