The 49ers Need Chase Young to Step Up in the Playoffs

Young was supposed to be a major upgrade over Clelin Ferrell, but he hasn't been.

Grant Cohn | Jan 12, 2024

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San Francisco 49ers

When the 49ers traded for Chase Young, he was supposed to be the missing player who would put them over the top. And he still might, but he'll have to make a significant impact in the playoffs, because he didn't make one in the regular season.

The 49ers traded for Young during their bye week. And since then, Young has played in nine games, made zero starts and recorded just 2.5 sacks and six quarterback hits while playing subpar run defense. As opposed to Clelin Ferrell, who has recorded 3 sacks while playing good run defense since the bye week.

Young was supposed to be a major upgrade over Ferrell, but he hasn't been. Now Ferrell will miss at least one playoff game with a knee injury, which means it's time for Young to step up and play like the quality starter he's supposed to be.

In 7 games with the Commanders this season, Young recorde 5 sacks and 9 quarterback hits. What happened to that guy? Could that guy join the 49ers for the playoffs?

The word on Young in Washington was that he didn't give maximum effort every play. The 49ers probably thought Young would play harder for them, because they're making a playoff push, while the Commanders are tanking.

But Young hasn't played harder for the 49ers -- it actually seems like he played harder for Washington. Maybe he simply has been pacing himself for the playoffs.

Well, they're here. Time to play hard and earn a contract for next season.

Published Jan 12, 2024

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.