Ohio State football’s Chase Young shows off his hands in workout video in preparation for NFL Draft

Chase Young

Chase Young gave the world a look at how good his hands and footwork are in workout video in preparation for the NFL Draft.AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State football’s Chase Young was the best defensive player in college football last season.

The defensive end earned the nickname “The Predator” based on his 6-foot-5, 265-pound frame to go along with the dreadlocks which lay across his shoulders. His nation-best 16.5 sacks to go along with 21 tackles for loss and six forced fumbles earned him a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Young is a freak of nature so talented that the idea of him having a goal-line package on offense was jokingly brought up to Ryan Day.

“It sounds fun,” Day said during a weekly Tuesday press conference following a 38-7 win over Wisconsin. “But we’re not going to take any risks with Chase, no. Not going to do that.”

Dominant defensive ends playing tight end in special situations isn’t a crazy thought. J.J. Watt has done it for the Houston Texans in the past, and the result has been three career touchdown catches. Young has experience catching the football at the high school level, and he feels it helped him in his development at his natural position.

“I really think (it helped) my coordination (and) my feet,” Young said after a 34-10 win over Michigan State. “Just being athletic growing up. I was always put on offense. I just think it helped my athleticism for real.”

Young is projected to be the No. 2 pick to the Washington Redskins in the NFL Draft. The Redskins are in the process of switching from a 3-4 defensive scheme to a 4-3 scheme under new defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio who was Ron Rivera’s first hire as head coach.

The Maryland native is at his best when he is rushing the quarterback on the defensive line, but that doesn’t mean that at times he won’t be asked to play in pass coverage. His time as a tight end in high school will come in handy in adjusting to that, and he gave the world a preview of how good his hands can be.


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