10 NFL records with a good chance to fall in 2020
By Matt Conner
Most Sacks in a Rookie Season
Nearly everyone agrees that Chase Young is a very special talent, someone who would have been taken atop the first-year player draft in most years if not for the chance for the Cincinnati Bengals to finally solve their quarterback woes. As dangerous as he was at the college level, Young is expected to be just as dominant as he steps up to face NFL-level competition for the first time.
What’s going to make Young all the more dangerous this upcoming season is that he’s surrounded by far more talent than most people realize. The Washington Football Team is earning headlines for all the wrong reasons this offseason, but their front seven is among the very best in the business.
Forget the miserable way in which the team’s pass rushers were utilized last season under Greg Manusky. New head coach Ron Rivera and his defensive head Jack Del Rio are instituting a 4-3 front that will get the most out of recent first round picks Da’Ron Payne, Montez Sweat, and Jonathan Allen alongside productive sack artists like Matt Ioannidis and Ryan Kerrigan. The team also imported Thomas Davis from the Carolina Panthers to be the veteran leader in the heart of Rivera’s defense.
Taken together, Chase Young should have plenty of chances to get after the quarterback because opposing teams simply won’t be able to focus too much on where he’s at. Washington has too many other bodies to account for, which means Young could end up with more than 14 sacks, the rookie record currently held by Javon Kearse.