After the 49ers sent a 3rd round pick to the Washington Commanders, many figured this would be the move that would solidify San Fransisco’s defensive front and help terrorize opposing quarterbacks. While Young has made a few decent plays, the bad far outweighs the good in his case. Leading up to the NFC Championship, star pass rusher and former college teammate of Young’s, Nick Bosa let his thoughts be known.
Nick Bosa says as someone who’s been through 3 NFC Championship games, he does talk to the players who haven’t.
Mentioning Chase Young, Bosa said that he told him and the d-line “it’s time to step it up a bit.” He believes they already took his advice, and need to keep it up. pic.twitter.com/gMbf6dn6Oa
— Kate Rooney (@TheKateRooney) January 24, 2024
In a press conference days before their next game, Bosa said this. “They’ve been around the team for a while now… I’ve talked to the new guys. Chase is a big one just on how you need to step it up a notch…”
Based on Sunday’s performance, it didn’t seem like Young took his advice. The most obvious example of this appeared just past halfway of the 2nd quarter. On a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown run, the Detroit running back seemed to jog past the Niners’ defenders, specifically Young. His lack of effort to get back in the play led to Gibbs being able to waltz into the end zone, basically untouched.
Both fans and media are starting to catch on to Young’s carelessness
Rewatching the game to figure out what the heck happened in the first half.
Just watch #92 Chase Young and his lack of effort🤦♂️.Chase started playing with greater effort in the 2nd half and made impressive plays. But, can’t be taking plays off like this in the Super Bowl. #49ers pic.twitter.com/cKn2WsnEhK
— 49ers & NFL News 24/7 (@49ersSportsTalk) January 29, 2024
To put yourself in the mind of San Fransisco General Manager John Lynch, I too, would be considering benching him after such a clear lack of effort. It’s taken the 49ers five years to get back to the Super Bowl stage, although they’ve had one of the top-tier rosters ever since they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2019 season.
I wouldn’t want to let an unmotivated player ruin a chance to win the Lombardi after what’s taken years of fantastic roster building and great development by the coaches.
For Sunday’s NFC Championship game, Young posted a stat line of zero sacks and one pressure while having an abysmal pass rush grade of 57.1 on 56 total snaps.
Ever since Chase Young got traded to the 49ers, he’s has been average at best
The former No. 2 overall pick has 2.5 sacks in a total of nine regular and postseason games.
If backup Randy Gregory can show some juice and integrity in these next weeks of practice, I’d consider starting him over Young or rotating him in with Young more often. Gregory has shown a real knack for rushing the passer in the past and should be relatively fresh.
Regardless, Young must increase his efforts if he wants to get playing time, let alone become a life-long champion.
