Category: Washington Rookies

Urban Meyer hints that Chase Young can become ‘one of the best defensive ends ever’

We all marveled at Chase Young’s abilities in his first NFL game, and Urban Meyer seems to think he can become the best defensive end ever.

Washington fans have been waiting all summer to see just how good rookie DE Chase Young could be, and they got their answer last weekend when he lined up against the Philadelphia Eagles. The stats don’t show exactly how dominant he was, but Young came away from his first career NFL game with four tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 QB hits, and 1 forced fumble. He made his presence felt more often than not, and was often in the middle of a party in the Eagles backfield.

Going into a tough Week 2 test against the Arizona Cardinals, many fans are waiting to see if his second act will be just as good as the first, especially now that he and the Washington defensive line will be going up against an offensive line that is healthy, and a quarterback that is elusive and mobile.

The Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala recently asked Young’s former college coach, Urban Meyer, about the player, and he made a comment that alludes to the fact that Chase could one day be among the best defensive ends of all time.

It’s unfair to place that type of expectation on his shoulders less than 2 weeks into his NFL career, but from what we’ve seen so far, nobody has any real reason to dispute that claim.

We’ll see what Young can do this week against Kyler Murray, but odds are that he continues on this path towards greatness.

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Antonio Gibson is a low-risk, high-reward player who could help win your fantasy league

With the rookie Antonio Gibson now slotting into the RB1 spot in Washington, he is a low-risk, high-reward player who could pay dividends.

With the news about Washington releasing running back Adrian Peterson on Friday aside, the ramifications are potentially big when it comes to Antonio Gibson and your fantasy team. The rookie was already flying under the radar as a sleeper in some deeper leagues, with many hoping that his usage rate in Scott Turner’s offense was going to grow as time went on. But now that he is the de facto No. 1 back in Washington, things could get a bit interesting.

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This is where we have to work to calibrate our expectations. Any starting running back in the NFL is worthy of being rostered in fantasy football, but just because Gibson is the RB1 in Washington doesn’t mean that he is someone you’ll be starting each and every week. However, he is absolutely someone that you should be picking up off of your waiver wire if he’s available, and there is a high-ceiling for what he can do if all goes right.

We also need to be ready for the possibility that Gibson is a bit underwhelming, considering the high expectations that are now on him to perform. As a rookie running back who only has 33 career carries out of the backfield, there’s definitely a big chance that he gets overwhelmed in his rookie season and struggles to make much of a difference. Of course, we hope the opposite is true, but it’s smart to prepare for either.

What it boils down to, for fantasy purposes at least, is taking advantage of a low-risk, high-reward player that could potentially pay dividends for you down the road. If you are able to grab Gibson off of the waiver wire, or if you haven’t drafted yet and you add him to your team in the middle-to-late rounds, how much will it hurt you if he busts in his rookie season?

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Chase Young named NFL’s 17th best edge defender despite playing in zero games

Young hasn’t taken an NFL snap just yet, but he is already being considered among the best in the league at his position.

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Sometimes when your team walks away from the NFL draft with an all-star talent, it gets pretty hard not to have incredibly high expectations. That’s a battle that every Washington fan has been internally going through this offseason, ever since Chase Young became a member of the team in April.

After Young had one of the best college seasons by an edge rusher in NCAA history, many are calling for him to do similar things in the NFL. Some will warn you against expecting Young to have a major impact in his rookie season, but the good people over at Pro Football Focus don’t see an issue with aiming high with aspirations for the rookie. They recently ranked the top 25 edge defenders in the league, and Young landed at No. 17 on that list, despite not having played an NFL game just yet.

It might seem like madness to rank a rookie this high before he has taken an NFL snap — we have all seen highly touted rookies amount to nothing at the next level — but it speaks to just how dominant Young was in college and how confident we are in his transition. PFF College grading has done an excellent job highlighting elite pass-rushers from the college ranks, and the two dominant edge rushers at Ohio State who preceded Young — the Bosa brothers — both hit the ground running in the NFL. Young produced the highest pass-rush grade we have ever seen in college (95.4) and the best pass-rush win rate (22.3%). He should be a force right out of the gate.

So far in training camp, Young has lived up to the billing when on the field — he’s missed a couple of practices with a hip flexor injury — and the duo of him and 2019 first-round pick Montez Sweat could end up being lethal.

Might Washington have two edge defenders ranking in the top 25 come 2021? Who knows, it’s not out of the question.

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Washington releases rookie TE Thaddeus Moss with injury designation

One of the fan favorite storylines of the summer was the addition of Thaddeus Moss in Washington, but the team released him on Friday.

One of the most fun storylines for the Washington Football Team over the summer is now over, as news has broken that rookie TE Thaddeus Moss has been waived from the squad.

Moss was a member of the National Championship-winning LSU team in 2019, but he went undrafted in April and signed with Washington shortly after the draft came to a close on Saturday. After working out with the team throughout the summer and the start of training camp, Moss has been released, and will now look to sign with another team that may want him.

Rapoport also reported that Washington added G Joshua Garnett, as well as David Steinmetz, which we reported earlier.

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Trainer says Saahdiq Charles has build of a Greek god but needs to mature

Charles’ trainer, who worked with Shaq and Ray Lewis, says Saahdiq has the intangibles to be great, but needs to keep head on straight.

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The Washington Football Team draft pick in April who got all of the attention was Chase Young, taken with the second overall pick. Next to that, though, the most pivotal pick might have come when left tackle Saahdiq Charles was selected out of LSU in the fourth round.

Every Washington fan has heard a bit about Charles, who was suspended for a period of time in college and is said to have character concerns. While there’s hope that Ron Rivera might be able to help clean those up, there’s also a lot of hope from the fan base that Charles can be the franchise player who replaces Trent Williams on the line for years to come.

If you were to ask Charles’ trainer, Roc Shabazz, he has a shot at greatness in the NFL. Here is an excerpt from Sam Fortier’s story in the Washington Post about Charles:

Shabazz has trained elite athletes, such as Ray Lewis and Shaquille O’Neal, and he says Charles’s blend of length, strength and balance gives him the build of “a Greek god.” Yet Shabazz grades Charles’s work outside the weight room — sleep, recovery, nutrition — a 3 out of 10. He’s supposed to eat five meals a day, no excuses. But a few weeks ago, the scale showed he was a half-dozen pounds short of his goal weight (about 310), revealing that Charles had been shirking some meals, eating too much popcorn and not enough steak.

It’s stories like those that should get you excited about the potential that Charles brings to Washington. If he is able to get his head on straight and keep his mind set on being the best version of himself, there is no doubt that he can become one of the best blockers in the league, and Washington will have him in the burgundy and gold for years to come.

Luckily for Washington, they also have one of the best players coaches in the league. Who better to keep Charles on the straight and narrow than Rivera?

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McLaurin says Antonio Gandy-Golden is faster than he looks, can ‘jump out of the gym’

Washington will be forced to rely heavily on Antonio Gandy-Golden in his rookies season, but he’s been able to impress so far in camp.

It’s not normal for an NFL team to rely heavily on a rookie player to have a big impact during their first year in the league, but that’s exactly what the Washington Football Team will be hoping for from rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden.

With the unfortunate loss of Kelvin Harmon earlier this offseason, the expectations for AGG got significantly higher, and the team will likely need to ask a lot more of him than they originally would have had the receiving corps been at full strength.

Luckily for Washington, there have been some good signs coming out of training camp about the rookie’s progress, topped off by the comments made by second-year WR Terry McLaurin on Thursday morning.

AGG’s ability to go up and get the ball was highly noted during the scouting process ahead of the draft, but his 4.6 40-yard-dash time at the combine left a bit to be desired. However, McLaurin notes that he seems much faster than the watch says, and he should provide a solid deep threat for the Washington offense.

It may be a bit much to ask AGG to produce something along the lines of what we saw from McLaurin during the 2019 season, but any production that Washington can get from their new rookie receiver will be much-needed. Gandy-Golden won’t be forced to sit on the bench and acclimate to the league during his rookie season; he’ll have a chance to go out and prove what he can do right from the jump.

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Blocking out the noise is Chase Young’s goal amidst sky-high expectations in 2020

Expectations for Chase Young to be the next great thing are through the roof, but the rookie wants to block out the noise and get to work.

There aren’t many high expectations for the Washington Football Team to perform well in the 2020 season, but the same can’t be said for the defensive line, and specifically, rookie DE Chase Young, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft, and arguably the best overall player in his draft class.

Before he has even taken a snap in the NFL, Young is already being compared to legendary players like Julius Peppers and Von Miller. For an established player to receive that kind of attention may be tough, but for a rookie? It’s almost unheard of. When talking to the crew at #GMFB on NFL Network Wednesday morning, Young addressed this premature praise.

“That’s really a touching word for a rookie coming in, but that’s why I try to just block out the noise, good and bad,” Young said. “I just try to focus on every day, taking one step at a time. I can’t really say too much about what other people think about me, I just keep doing my thing.”

Young will have the benefit that most early first-round rookies don’t have by walking into a situation that’s already built for him to succeed. With a defensive line in Washington that consists of five total former first-round picks, the attention will not be solely on stopping Young, and he should be able to have an impact because of that.

Will that allow him to live up to expectations in his rookie year? We’ll see. It doesn’t seem like he’s too concerned about that just yet, though.

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‘The sky is the limit for that guy:’ Ryan Kerrigan is happy to be leader for Chase Young

Ryan Kerrigan knows that he’ll play less of a role in Washington this year, but he’s happy to play the role of leader for rookie Chase Young.

As a veteran player who is 1.5 sacks away from becoming the franchise leader in Washington, it would be easy for Ryan Kerrigan to hold some type of ill-will towards rookie DE Chase Young, who will likely be pushing him from his starting role on the defensive line this season.

However, when talking to the media on Tuesday, Kerrigan said that he’s felt the leadership role come naturally to his this offseason, and he’s enjoyed working with Young and helping him to get better as he grows and tries to be the best player that he can be in the NFL.

For Young, it’s hard to imagine a better situation to come into during his rookies season. Having the ability to learn from one of the best players in franchise history, while playing alongside a group five former first-round picks on the defensive line is something that a young player could only dream of. Now we will get to see just how easily Young is able to acclimate to the NFL, and grow into his role on that potentially dominant defense. As Kerrigan said, the sky is the limit.

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