Chase Young is headed home.
The Washington Redskins selected Young with the No. 2 overall pick in Thursday night's first round of the 2020 NFL draft, bringing him back to his home state of Maryland while drafting a Buckeye for the third time in two years.
Watch Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia's call to first-round draft pick @jeffokudah. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/055jktK9W1
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) April 24, 2020
Young becomes the second straight Ohio State defensive end to be drafted with the No. 2 overall pick, joining Nick Bosa, who was selected in the same slot by the San Francisco 49ers in 2019.
He becomes Ohio State's third top-five overall pick since 2018, also joining Denzel Ward, as Ohio State becomes the first school to ever have defensive players selected in the top five picks in three consecutive drafts.
Young is the third Ohio State defensive end to be selected in the top three picks since 2016, when the then-San Diego Chargers drafted Joey Bosa with the No. 3 overall pick.
Young becomes Ohio State's 82nd all-time first-round draft pick, moving the Buckeyes ahead of USC for the most first-round picks ever, and just the sixth Buckeye to ever be selected in the top two overall picks (not including this year's No. 1 overall pick, Joe Burrow, who finished his career at LSU).
| Pick | Year | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | 1979 | TOM COUSINEAU | BUFFALO BILLS |
| No. 1 | 1994 | DAN WILKINSON | CINCINNATI BENGALS |
| No. 1 | 1997 | ORLANDO PACE | ST. LOUIS RAMS |
| No. 2 | 1938 | JIM MCDONALD | PHILADELPHIA EAGLES |
| No. 2 | 2019 | NICK BOSA | SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS |
| No. 2 | 2020 | CHASE YOUNG | WASHINGTON REDSKINS |
| No. 3 | 1956 | HOPALONG CASSADY | DETROIT LIONS |
| No. 3 | 1974 | JOHN HICKS | NEW YORK GIANTS |
| No. 3 | 1997 | SHAWN SPRINGS | SEATTLE SEAHAWKS |
| No. 3 | 2016 | JOEY BOSA | SAN DIEGO CHARGERS |
| No. 3 | 2020 | JEFF OKUDAH | DETROIT LIONS |
The first defensive player selected in this year's NFL draft, Young's call to the league comes after a spectacular career at Ohio State in which he recorded 30.5 sacks, the second-most in school history, including a school-record 16.5 sacks – the most in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision in 2019 – last season.
Young enters the league with massive expectations – he'll be favored to become the fourth Buckeye in five years (Joey Bosa, Marshon Lattimore and Nick Bosa) to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors – and joins 2019 first-round pick Montez Sweat, 2018 first-round pick Da'Ron Payne, 2017 first-round pick Jonathan Allen and veteran Ryan Kerrigan to form what should be one of the league's elite defensive lines in Washington.
He also joins former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who the Redskins selected with the No. 15 overall pick last year, and former Ohio State wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who became their leading receiver after they selected him in the third round last year, as one of the faces of a franchise who will be looking to achieve more success under new head coach Ron Rivera after winning just three games in 2019.
Welcome home brotha. Lets work #HTTR @youngchase907 pic.twitter.com/82sxSsejBk
— Dwayne Haskins, Jr (@dh_simba7) April 24, 2020
Being drafted by the Redskins was an expected outcome for Young on Thursday night, and one he's been excited about the prospect of all along.
“Playing in front of my hometown people, it would definitely be a blessing,” Young said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Everybody who’s known me since I was younger could come to a game.”
After being drafted 2nd overall by the #Redskins, @youngchase907 took time to thank family and friends outside of his house #NFLDraft @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/3WdlPVRP24
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) April 24, 2020
Young is the sixth Ohio State defensive end to be drafted since 2016, joining the 2018 trio of Tyquan Lewis, Sam Hubbard and Jalyn Holmes in addition to the Bosa brothers. He's the ninth first-round pick to be coached by Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who previously coached six first-round picks at Penn State.
