Official Game Thread - Week 8 - vs Eagles

[Bulldog]

Well, the simple truth is the cap prevents any team from spending beyond a certain amount on a specific unit. You have to develop a 53 man roster to compete and win the NFL.

Washington is overbalanced - four #1 picks on the defensive line and an offensive line that is gasping for breath and new infusions of talent.

Where you are starting a rookie or first year quarterback if anything you want the opposite - a very good offensive line and receivers to help the quarterback develop while the defense is then built up once that qb is in place and producing.

That's what Andy Reid did in Kansas City with Mahomes. He went out and acquired defensive players in free agency and draft AFTER Mahomes was in place and he had Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill out there as skill players to grown with Mahomes.

 

[Primus Porcus]

 

[Om]

Been watching Chase's play closely every week, focusing on him like the above vid on the NFL's consolidated replays ... and what you see there is a good representation of the preponderance of his contributions. A handful of plays a game he seems to flash and influence a play like you'd hope a starting DE would--particularly a high-profile, athletic freak like that. The rest of the game he has little or no impact.

 

[Bulldog]

The reality is that Chase Young missed 2 years of his rookie contract and the first half of year 2 didn't look good before he was injured.

On that basis a solid season in 2023 before free agency is not enough for a smart GM to tie up $20M plus per year in an extended deal.

I understand Chase's father going on the Junkies and defending his boy. It may very well be that Chase goes elsewhere and has a very good career, stays healthy and looks back at his time in Washington as a difficult introduction into the NFL.

But Washington is in a position where a lot of dollars have been spent on the defensive line to date and that wealth has to be shared with other position groups on the roster to raise this team to a level where it can compete with the better clubs in the conference.

In 2022 Washington made the decision to resign Daron Payne to a $90M extension and implicit in that deal was the fact the team was valuing him at a higher level going forward than Chase Young.

Whether that was the 'right' decision in retrospect when we get a new GM in here we will find out, but the current calculus on the cap says we can't afford to resign a player with this type of injury history to a top 5 contract.

While solid, Chase has not put himself in a category of a Nick Bosa or Aaron Donald where he has separated into a special category that makes him a 'must have' player the club has to move on to keep as part of the core for the future.

In some ways he seems similar to Brian Orakpo, another first round pick at DE, who produced some solid seasons here and put up 9-10 sack seasons but was never the game in/game out dominator that reflected his salary demands and what the club was being asked to pay him.

 

[Primus Porcus]

conversly here is Casey Toohill




CLEARLY not as explosive, but doesn't stop moving, and his effort results in a sack where ultimately tracks Hurts down from behind

 

[Bulldog]

With Jonathan Allen and Payne inside the defensive ends for Washington should and I think HAVE been the recipients of a lot of man-on blocking and occasional chipping.

The idea that Chase Young with his limited set of moves is going to be doubled with a back also chipping coming out of the backfield on a regular basis means opponents are going one on one with Allen, Payne and Sweat most of the time.

The statistics bear out that Young is being doubled on 12% of his snaps.

To put that in perspective Nick Bosa is doubled on 29% of his snaps with the 49ers.

Young, taking away the buzz over being the #2 overall pick, is simply playing out as a solid defensive end with some upside.

If he had been taken in Round 2 or 3, he would be considered a nice find for the team and people wouldn't be drooling over his status.