Chase Young’s tenure with the Washington Commanders ended last week with 14 sacks in less than four full seasons. It’s a disappointing ending for the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, who is now a member of the San Franciso 49ers.
There were many reasons Young’s time with Washington didn’t go as planned. First, there was the knee injury. Young tore his ACL in Nov. 2021 while also injuring his patellar tendon and didn’t return until Christmas Eve 2022.
But before Young’s injury, he struggled. He had only 1.5 sacks in the nine games before his injury. In three games last season, Young did not record a sack, meaning he had just 1.5 sacks over the past two seasons combined.
There was also Young choosing to skip voluntary OTAs in 2021. That angered head coach Ron Rivera and the entire coaching staff. Young felt he had arrived after an impressive rookie and used his offseason to shoot commercials. While it was voluntary, he was a captain and the only player who skipped the offseason program.
One former Washington player believes he knows when Young’s relationship with the Commanders changed.
Former Washington defensive tackle Kedric Golston played 11 NFL seasons — all with Washington. He last played in 2016, which meant he played six seasons with the franchise’s all-time sack leader, Ryan Kerrigan.
Kerrigan, of course, is now in his second season as Washington’s assistant defensive line coach after retiring ahead of the 2022 season. Kerrigan last played for Washington in 2020, spending his final season in Philadelphia before joining the Commanders’ staff in the summer of July 2022. That means Kerrigan had the opportunity to play with Young for one season and coach him for two seasons.
Golston believes Kerrigan’s departure after the 2020 season was a turning point for Young and the Commanders.
“I think when the Commanders or the Washington Football Team didn’t re-sign Kerrigan after Chase’s second year, in my opinion, I think that set him back from a development standpoint,” Golston said last week in an appearance on “The Hoffman Show” on Team 980 with host Craig Hoffman.
“Because now, you have two young guys (Young and Montez Sweat) in the room versus a guy, say what you want to about Kerrigan; I know he’s on the staff now, but it was a guy you could lock him in for 10-11 sacks a year and was just a quiet assassin. We would’ve been better as an organization; this guy (Young) would’ve been on every billboard around because that’s the type of player that he was. I think putting him with other guys, that, one that he respects, two, that he can learn from, because not only do they seem to be professional off the field but on the field playing at a high level. I think he’s going to grow from it.”
Throughout his rookie season, Young took every opportunity to praise Kerrigan.
This was outstanding insight from Golston. Golston also believes Washington’s defense could be better without Young and Sweat, not because they aren’t terrific players, but because defensive line play is all about cohesion.
Letting Kerrigan go after the 2020 season could’ve been avoided. Kerrigan signed with the Eagles on a one-year, $2.5 million contract, something the Commanders could have easily afforded at the time. Not only would Kerrigan have been around to serve as a mentor to Young and Sweat, but he would’ve given Washington a third edge rusher, something it needed in 2021.