Chase Young made the most notable move of the NFL’s trade deadline day as he switched from the Washington Commanders to the San Francisco 49ers; listen to Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinebold every week on Inside the Huddle as they break down the biggest stories around the league.
Last Updated: 01/11/23 4:13pm
Chase Young will provide a much-needed boost to the San Francisco 49ers pass rush amid their pursuit of a Super Bowl, believes Jeff Reinebold.
The 49ers landed the biggest move of the day ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline as they reinforced their defensive front by adding Young via a trade with the Washington Commanders.
Young joins a San Francisco side that have posted a joint-second-fewest 18 sacks so far in 2023, despite having a third-most 86 pressures across a contrasting start to the year that has seen them follow up a commanding 5-0 run with a three-game losing streak.
The former No 2 overall pick teams up with one of his old college companions to form one of the league’s most impressive edge rush duos.
“I think it’s really going to be really interesting watching that because him and Nick Bosa were college teammates at Ohio State and they reunite,” said Reinebold. “When they were at Ohio State you talk about coming off both edges, they were a dynamic pass rush and that’s what the 49ers are lacking.
“In the last few games, they’ve struggled to get pressure on the passer to finish up the quarterback and Chase Young will certainly do that.
“This is an interesting one because there’s been some discontent with Chase young in Washington, which I couldn’t figure it out. I did a little digging, and what I heard was that sometimes he has a tendency to go off-script and try and make splash plays on his own. I think he’s kind of wore out his welcome a little bit that way with the defensive coaches and head coach.”
Young was not the only departure in Washington on Tuesday, with the Commanders also trading Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears for a second-round draft pick. Sweat, a former first-round pick, has 35.5 sacks over four-and-a-half seasons in the NFL, including 6.5 this season as he joins a unit that has recorded a league-fewest 10 sacks and just 46 pressures in 2022.
“It’s it’s just perplexing to me,” added Reinebold. “When you look at the Commanders give up two pass rushers, and you think about it and say, ‘Okay, what’s the premium right now, in the NFL?’. If you can draft pass rushers, you’ve got to get pass rushers, they have pass rushers and they let them go.
“You’re in a division where you better be able to rush the passer because you have got great passers in your division. So it was really a surprising to see both of those guys leave the Commanders.”
Elsewhere in Minnesota, the Vikings acquired veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals following the news that Kirk Cousins will miss the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles.
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Christian McCaffrey equalled an NFL record by scoring a touchdown in the 17th consecutive game for the San Francisco 49ers against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Dobbs had been the starter across the first half of the season in Arizona as the team waited on the recovery of Kyler Murray, whose return from a torn ACL suffered last year is imminent. The Vikings are riding a three-game winning streak and sit 4-4 to stay alive despite losing Justin Jefferson to injury a couple of weeks ago.
“I think he gives them a guy who has started,” says Reinebold .”If you think Josh Dobbs is going to go over there and be Kirk Cousins and do Kirk Cousins type things, you better think again.
“I think Josh Dobbs is a serviceable quarterback, he’ll be a very good backup quarterback, a bridge guy for them. And they got him for a seventh round draft pick, you have got to say that’s a good trade, because you’re going to get an experienced starter.
“He’s not Cousins by any stretch of the imagination. He’s not an elite quarterback, but he is a guy who has started proving he can win games. He took a Cardinals team and helped them beat the Dallas Cowboys earlier in the year, we’ve seen him do enough to say that’s a good move by Minnesota.”