When a player lands at No. 2 in the draft they immediately land larger-than-life expectations for how they can impact a franchise. Due to health and other issues, Chase Young didn't always live up to those expectations in Washington.
In his short stints with the Saints we've seen Chase Young start to recreate some of that hype, due in large but to health and a larger-than-life appearance. Several Saints players were asked about that subject and all had the same general reaction.
"It really doesn't make a lot of sense," LB Pete Werner joked when asked about the new Saints DE's physique.
The pair knows each other well going back to their shared time at Ohio State. Werner recalled fondly what playing with Young was like, because he'd only have to cover for a few seconds before he could be confident about pressure getting to the QB. He's seen flashes of that in the three padded practices that the new Saints DE has participated in team drills.
“Tell you what, I’ve never seen a guy get off the ball quite as fast as he has," Werner continued, "so that’s exciting."
The word exciting is one we've heard a lot in regard to Young, and there's also got to be some semblance of relief for a team that made something of a gamble in signing Young despite his immediate need for neck surgery to repair an issue in his neck. At that point the goal was to get Young back at some point in camp. There was a timeline, but it wasn't set in stone.
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Young attacked his rehab and was always in the building working out behind the scenes even while his teammates worked during OTAs and minicamp. That work meant that when he visited with doctors prior to the start of camp, they deemed him ready to go with no real limitations. Dennis Allen said the team actually had the ability to speed up his timeline, a notable occurrence from a training staff that typically errs heavily on the side of caution early in camp.
He was still gradually ramped into the action moreso just to make sure he avoided soft-tissue injuries after missing months of work. By Day 5, the first day in pads, he was on the field for the first time in team reps. Two days later he was getting nearly a full allotment of reps and he's been, at times, unblockable in those reps.
"The way that he’s gone about his business, the way that he’s come to work every day -- he’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do the way that we’ve asked him to do it," head coach Dennis Allen said. "Never has there been any sort of kickback on anything and so, you know, I’ve been really pleased with that part of it and as you watch practice, I think you can feel it when he’s out there, so I’d say, yea, probably exceeded expectations a little bit.”
To this group Young has gotten his reps on the left side and the majority against rookie Taliese Fuaga. The highly touted first-round pick has been rock-steady in his first NFL offseason, but the Fuaga-Young matchup has been tilted toward the pass rush. That work will likely be invaluable as this season progresses, and it's a good indicator of what Young might be able to do when opponents roll out their top pass protectors throughout the season.
“I think he’s a great player," Fuaga said. "He plays with some speed and power. He has a lot of different tools he can use. He’s a big dude. I didn’t really see players like that in college. It’s justa blessing to go against guys like that.”
The pass rush group on the whole was dominating the second two days of padded practices, albeit the final day against a patchwork OL group without Erik McCoy and including a rotating trio at left guard with Landon Young, Oli Udoh and UDFA Kyle Hergel. It was clear that group was overmatched, but that's only part of the story. With Young, the Saints pass rush goes five deep, starting with proven commodities in Carl Granderson and Cam Jordan, a guy trying to earn another major contract in Young, and a pair of young, high draft picks trying to prove themselves in Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey.
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It's not often you see a pass rush group that goes five deep with players you actually want to see on the field, one of whom is a future Hall-of-Famer and a clear leader in the room. We've already seen the Saints' strategy reflect that, with several combinations that replace an interior lineman with a pass-rusher. One such group had Turner lined at DT next to Nathan Shepherd, with Young and Jordan on the ends. We've seen other reps with no defensive tackle on the field at all for third-down reps instead a pair of standup rushers. Willie Gay has also been added to that mix.
In the end the Saints are hoping it is a recipe for a more effective pass rush and the ability to make life more difficult on quarterbacks. The Saints ended last season 26th in the NFL with 34 sacks on the year. If they can average one more sack a game then they did a year ago and add 17 sacks to that total, they'd have ranked No. 5 in 2023. Oftentimes that QB pressure can be the difference in close games, of which the Saints have lost many in their three-year skid without a playoff appearance.
"We’re all doing a good job as a unit," Granderson said. "We’re playing fast, we’re playing physical, we’re playing smart, so we’re getting after it.”