After the first five picks of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Redskins came away with Chase Young and the Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa, just as many expected for months and months.
Submitting the picks was a matter of formality; everyone knew Miami coveted Tua, just like everyone knew Ron Rivera – a defensive-minded head coach – wouldn't be able to resist a pass rusher who's described as a generational talent.
But in the midst of the draft, Eric Bickel of The Sports Junkies – overcome by the imagery on the broadcast comparing Tua to Hall of Fame lefty quarterback Steve Young – fired a take into the sun that set Redskins fans ablaze locally.
I don't care how good Chase becomes... and I believe he's going to be a stud. If Tua becomes Steve Young we botched it. Big time.
— Eric Bickel (@EBJunkies) April 24, 2020"I made a comment and of course the Redskins message board people freaked out," Bickel said Friday morning on 106.7 The Fan. "So when Tua was being selected... it's so funny, I never thought of Tua as a Steve Young type, but all they did was kept comparing him to Steve Young, and they were showing video, and then Tua, and then Steve Young.
"I was like 'wow.' And I tweeted, 'If Tua becomes Steve Young, we botched it.'"
"Well," Jason Bishop said. "Of course."
"And Redskins fans were so bitter," Bickel said. "They didn't like that. They thought I was clubbing Chase and they thought I was clubbing Dwayne (Haskins). I really wasn't. If Tua becomes Steve Young, a Hall of Famer, wins a couple Super Bowls – one of the greatest of all time – then we botched it."
"Hopefully he doesn't!" he insisted. "Hopefully he doesn't!"
"The Skins fan base, I mean they couldn't be more thin-skinned," John Auville said. "And I don't mean all of them, I just mean a very small sect, that, I mean, any sort of consideration of anybody other than Haskins is a slight personally to Haskins, to them. It's unreal to see that sort of reaction from the fan base."
"I mean obviously picking Chase was like a no-brainer if they couldn't find a deal where they got overwhelmed," Bickel said. "And I expect Chase – put it in the book – I expect him to go to five Pro Bowls. I mean that's what I'm expecting. Hopefully he can."
"That's what you should expect when you take a guy number two overall," said Auville.
