Put Chase Young in the Heisman discussion you cowards

The Ohio State Buckeyes’ best player isn’t their quarterback Justin Fields, it’s their defensive end Chase Young. Let’s put him in the Heisman race now.

It’s obvious. The best player in the Big Ten, and arguably the entire NCAA, doesn’t play on offense. We’re talking about Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young, who will be the first non-quarterback taken in the 2020 NFL Draft in the top five. He’s going to win the Chuck Bednarik Award, so let’s do the right thing and put him in the Heisman Trophy discussion, you cowards.

Young had nine quarterback sacks entering Saturday’s high-profile home game vs. the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers. In the pouring rain, Young made his presence felt for the entire game in The Horseshoe for all of Buckeye Nation, and the world, to see.

Well, he just added four more sacks to his season total on the afternoon, becoming the second Buckeye with consecutive 10-plus sack seasons joining former New England Patriots linebacker and current head coach of the Tennessee Titans Mike Vrabel. The legend of this guy is growing by the second.

Young was unstoppable against Wisconsin all day. The Badgers would use two tight ends sets and even used Heisman contending running back Jonathan Taylor as an eighth blocker to contain Young. No, it did not work. Young affected just about every play the Wisconsin offense tried to run, mustering a grand total of zero points in Columbus in the first half and only seven the entire day.

Through eight games on the season, Young has 13.5 quarterback sacks, 15.5 tackles for a loss of yardage and five forced fumbles. If those numbers through two-thirds of the regular season aren’t compelling enough to get the best defensive player in the country to the Heisman Trophy presentation, was is good enough? In all honesty, that’s nothing short of amazing by Young.

Like The Bosa Brothers before him, Young is destined to be a top-five pick in the NFL Draft. His talent and production are undeniable. This guy will win every major defensive award in college football he’s eligible for, but for some dumb reason, he’s not going to get an invitation to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony this December.

We get it. It’s a quarterback award that occasionally goes to a bruising bell-cow back. Sure, Ohio State has another Heisman hopeful in sophomore quarterback Justin Fields. However, Fields might be the fourth-best quarterback in contention for the Heisman after Joe Burrow of LSU, Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama and Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma. Young offers something different.

America hasn’t had a Heisman winner that primarily played defense since 1997 when Charles Woodson won it for the eventual national champion Michigan Wolverines. When 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff is clamoring for you to win it and The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo is about to back your campaign, why not put Young in the conversation?

Sadly, the 2019 Heisman Trophy will end up going to another quarterback this year. This isn’t a slight on Burrow, Tagovailoa, Hurts or even Fields. It’s the nature of the award and the voters love passing numbers. But let’s do our part to get the most dominant defensive player since Ndamukong Suh at Nebraska to the award ceremony. Young is doing his part. Let’s get him there.

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