Washington On Cusp of Becoming Ohio State's NFL Capital
It's not as common at Ohio State as it used to be for the Buckeyes' best players to have grown up an hour or two's drive away from the Horseshoe.
Credit that to Urban Meyer, who moved the Buckeyes out of a shop-local mentality on top talent and took their recruiting national.
Ezekiel Elliott, Joey and Nick Bosa, Curtis Samuel, Michael Thomas, J.T. Barrett and Malik Hooker are just a few of the out-of-staters who carried Meyer to unprecedented success over his seven seasons, including the 2014 national championship.
Where Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce and Jim Tressel did it differently, dotting their rosters with in-state studs like Rex Kern, Jim Stillwagon, Cris Carter, Chris Spielman, Troy Smith and A.J. Hawk.
Would Dwayne Haskins or Chase Young have wound up in Columbus in a different era?
We'll never, but we know where Haskins' current NFL home, and Young's likely future destination, gives the Washington Redskins a decidedly-hometown feel with headliners on offense and defense both from the D.C. area.
Haskins, who the Redskins took 15th overall in the 2019 draft, grew up in a New York Giants fan in New Jersey before moving to Potomac, Md., just across the river from the nation's capital, to play his high school football.
Young grew up in Upper Marlboro, Md., and played high school football in Laurel, 20 miles from the White House.
Washington has the No. 2 pick in the draft and, while positioned to take the quarterback most teams in that slot crave, already has Haskins.
While there's been some speculation new coach Ron Rivera would like his own choice of franchise QB, those who have probed deeply on the Redskins' interest in Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert believe Young is too generational a talent to bypass.
"No one in my sphere thinks Ron Rivera will do anything but log on to the NFL's secure Microsoft Teams draft channel when Washington is on the clock and enter Chase Young, Ohio State," NBC Sports Peter King reported this week.
"Maybe Washington won't take Young with the second overall pick," wrote SI.com's Albert Breer. "But what I can say is they've been aggressive in cross-checking their information on him, and are poised to sit right where they are and take him second overall."
He added that his guess "would be Young is too sure of a thing for them to pass on."
Young follows the Bosa brothers into the NFL with the same defensive-rookie-of-the-year potential they both carried.
He sat out two games at OSU last year serving a school suspension for NCAA violations and yet still set a single-season record with 16.5 sacks, more than half his three-year total of 30.5.
He specializes in knocking the football free, as evidenced by his seven forced fumbles as a junior.
Young, who turned 21 on Tuesday, doesn't lack confidence.
He told ESPN last month that he is, "definitely," the best defensive player in this draft, that includes his OSU teammate Jeff Okudah, who is also likely to go in the Top 5.
"I know I'm the best, definitely."
Only once since 2005 has an edge-rusher not gone in the Top 5, with Nick Bosa (No. 2 to San Francisco in 2019) and Joey Bosa (No. 3 to San Diego in 2016) part of that trend.
Do you believe Young will be the NFL's defensive rookie-of-the-year in 2021? Give us your reasons why or why not in the space below.
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