Many members of the Washington Redskins were extremely excited when they saw that their team drafted Chase Young with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday night. They know that his presence on the field will have an instant impact, making their jobs quite a bit easier.
Veteran linebacker Thomas Davis Sr., who is one of the newer additions to the team after coming over in free agency, says that Young reminds him a lot of an old player he used to play with in Carolina with the Panthers — it’s about as solid of a comparison as you can give to a rookie edge-rusher.
“You know, the size, physical stature, relentless effort, motor, dominating the man across from him,” Davis said to NBC Sports Washington on Thursday night. “I would say that sounds a lot like what Julius Peppers was able to do early on in his career, and throughout his whole career.”
So did the Redskins really just draft the next Julius Peppers? It sounds like a great result if they did. In his 17-year career, Peppers made it to nine Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro three times with 159.5 career sacks. Davis was along for the ride in Carolina with Peppers from 2005-09, so he will have a good feel for the bar Young is trying to reach once they can get some snaps on the field together.
“Just getting to know him over time, you can just kind of see even Julius had to have some growth, he had to have that maturity level phase that had to take place,” Davis continued. “And I know that’s something Chase is going to have to go through.”
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