Why are people acting like a third round pick is some incredible thing? There is roughly a 10% chance of a third round pick becoming a Pro Bowler. While I value our third round pick, I'm not going to overvalue it. Chase Young is 24 years old. Byron Young, the promising EDGE we drafted this year, is one year OLDER than Chase Young. Smart teams know when to take risks and know when to buy low.
I think we'd be buying low on Chase Young. This is a guy who went #2 overall in the NFL Draft and was considered a #1 overall talent. He had a good rookie year. He took a step back as a sophomore and then suffered a season-ending knee injury midway through the year that made him miss most of his third season too. He returned to the field this year and has 5 sacks in 6 games.
Would this be a risky trade? Sure. But there's also a lot of upside. Young might get injured again. Young's good play early this season might prove to be a mirage. Those are the risks. But on the other hand, Young might be a #2 overall talent finally coming into his own. And if that is the case, we may have a 10+ sack per year type edge rusher for the next 5-8 years. We might have the guy whose production in his final year at OSU was on par with Joey Bosa's best year and better than Nick Bosa's best year at the same school.
Do I like trading our a third round pick? No. But he's 24 years old and has a huge amount of potential. He has length, power, speed, agility, and hand use. The guy gave Garrett Bolles, a LT some folks want us to acquire, the business this year.
Washington is in a bind. They have already paid Jonathan Allen and DaRon Payne big money. Montez Sweat and Chase Young are both hitting FA this year. There is no way they can afford to keep both. That's why they're willing to move on, not because Young and/or Sweat lack ability. They are simply facing reality. They aren't going to contend, and they're going to lose one of those guys this offseason, no matter what. Let's take advantage.
