How's Washington DE Chase Young Rank Among NFL Pass-Rushers?

Chase Young can only get better if he can stay healthy.

ASHBURN, Va. -- The defensive line and pass rush of the Washington Football Team is the pulse of the club and one of the top reasons why the WFT has a good chance of repeating as division champions in 2021

As good as it is on paper, two criticisms of the defensive unit were their porous run defense, and their inability to slow down quarterbacks in 2020.  If this doesn't change in 2021, Washington's chances of an NFC East repeat will be difficult to achieve.

But it starts with the rush. It starts with Chase Young.

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Despite Washington investing four first-round picks on that side of the ball, on a recent ranking of edge defenders by ProFootballFocus.com (PFF), the highest-ranked Washington edge defender is none other than Young, who slid in at No. 8 in the rankings.

The second-year defender had an overall grade of 87.1/100 by PFF, which was fifth in the NFL among qualifying edge defenders.

As PFF notes, Young was even better in the red zone, with a league-best grade of 93.3.

The scary part when analyzing Young’s first season in the NFL is that there is still clear room for improvement from a pass-rushing perspective. And Young still got out to an 87.1 overall grade as a rookie, fifth in the NFL among qualifying edge defenders.

He was at his best in the red zone. Young’s 93.3 overall grade last season in that portion of the field led all players at the position.

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Young ranks right behind DeMarcus Lawrence and Cameron Jordan, who came in at No. 6 and No. 7, as well as behind stalwarts like Khalil Mack, Nick and Joey Bosa, T.J. Watt, and Myles Garrett.

Montez Sweat is the next Washington edge defender on the list at No. 17 with PFF noting that the third-year end had an 87.0 run-defense grade in 2021.

Per PFF:

Few edge defenders improved more from 2019 to 2020 than Sweat did in his second year in the NFL. His 87.0 run-defense grade last season ranked third at the position behind only Khalil Mack and T.J. Watt, and he bumped up his pressure count from 32 as a rookie to 47 in 2020. Sweat also stood out as one of the best defensive linemen in the league at getting his hands into throwing lanes when rushing the passer. His six batted passes last year ranked second at the position.

Thanks to his long arms and elite athleticism, Sweat has quickly become one of the league's top edge rushers, and in conjunction with Young, one of the NFL's premier pass-rush tandems heading into next season. 

They figure to get even better ... which means the WFT figures to do the same.