40 best Ohio State football players this century, ranked

Best Ohio State football players this century 8. Chase Young – Defensive End 2017-19

Chase Young was one of the biggest recruits coming to Ohio State in 2017. He was recruited by 40 different schools before committing to The Ohio State. The Buckeyes immediately put him in their rotation, and he was effective in his first year. His God-given talent allowed him to get 3.5 sacks despite limited playing time.

In his second season, Young became the starting defensive end. His stats took a jump, putting up 10.5 sacks. He actually injured both of his ankles in the season, but that didn’t stop him from dominating on the defensive line.

His junior year was one of the best pass-rushing years we’ve ever seen. He had 16.5 sacks, an Ohio State record. He also had 21.5 tackles for loss. Over his career, his tackles for loss didn’t come right behind the line of scrimmage. He had 42.5 tackles for loss for the subtraction of 239 yards. He was the best of this era for getting players tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

Young finished the season number one in sacks and number two in tackles for loss in the entire country. He swept the trophy for the nation’s best trophies for defensive players including Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Ted Hendricks Award, Chicago Tribune Silver Football, Nagurski–Woodson Defensive Player of the Year, and Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year Award. On top of all that, he was the unanimous All-American choice. On top of all that, he won the Jesse Owens Award as the top athlete in the Big Ten. He’s the first football player since Ron Dayne to win that award. That was the crux of his impact. Young seemed to do the impossible on the field as he was impossible to stop.