What do the Bengals do if Chase Young really goes back to Ohio State?

If Chase Young goes back to Ohio State…the Bengals have a problem.

What happens if Chase Young really goes back to Ohio State? It’s not a comforting thought from a Cincinnati Bengals perspective.

And Young teased just that in an interview to TMZ recently. He later clarified, but the damage has been done.

Bengals fans seem split on the topic of Young as it is. Some want the Bengals to take him with a top-three pick and either keep riding with Andy Dalton or find a quarterback later. Others want Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow in that same range.

No perspective is wrong right now but one thing is certain — Young going back to Ohio State would hurt the Bengals.

First and foremost, they’d miss a chance at this:

But sheer draft logistics say the Bengals need Young to be a member of the 2020 class. Say the Bengals play their way out of the first overall pick — a team like the New York Giants that doesn’t want Burrow might then turn around and sell the pick to the highest bidder, letting a quarterback-needy team jump the Bengals.

Heck, say the Bengals want to sell the top pick to the highest bidder, which could end up going for a historic haul. No Young as leverage to entice non-quarterback teams or no Young as a fallback plan after a trade down hurts.

In the long run this will all probably be a moot point. Young is likely headed for the draft, which keeps Cincinnati’s options open. It’s hard to imagine the Buckeyes star risks another year of unpaid play when he’s a surefire top-three pick and one of the most anticipated defensive prospects of the modern era.

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