Player
Chase Young
EDGE · NO
Chase Young: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Career arc: DROY → ACL → traded → reborn. Five years, four chapters, and 2025 is the comeback he wasn't supposed to have.
TrendYoung regular-season defensive line by year
| Year | Team | G | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | WAS | 15 | 7.5 | 12 | 10 | 4 |
| 2021 | WAS | 9 | 1.5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 2022 | WAS | 3 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | WAS/SF | 13 | 7.5 | 15 | 7 | 0 |
| 2024 | NO | 15 | 5.5 | 21 | 8 | 1 |
| 2025 | NO | 12 | 10.0 | 15 | 11 | 2 |
Sacks per season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2020 DROY | 7.5 |
| 2021 ACL | 1.5 |
| 2022 rehab | 0 |
| 2023 | 7.5 |
| 2024 | 5.5 |
| 2025 | 10 |
The 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year put up 7.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles in 15 games — and Washington thought they had drafted a 10-year cornerstone at #2 overall. Then in 2021 he tore his ACL, missed almost all of 2022, played out his rookie deal as a shadow of himself, and got traded to the 49ers midway through 2023 for a 3rd-round pick.
The twist no one saw coming: 2025 is now the best season of his career. 10.0 sacks through 12 games — already past his DROY total — at a position where most players never come back from a 21-year-old ACL tear at full strength.
Pre-ACL Chase Young: 0.50 sacks/game. Post-ACL through 2024: 0.46. 2025: 0.83 — career-best.
SplitCareer split — ACL recovery arc
| Era | G | Sacks | Sacks/G | QB hits/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (rookie, pre-ACL) | 15 | 7.5 | 0.50 | 0.80 |
| 2021-2022 (injury/rehab) | 12 | 1.5 | 0.13 | 0.42 |
| 2023-2024 (post-recovery) | 28 | 13.0 | 0.46 | 1.29 |
| 2025 (NO breakout) | 12 | 10.0 | 0.83 | 1.25 |
The 2025 sacks-per-game rate (0.83) is 66% higher than his rookie DROY pace and quadruple his injury years. That's not a small bounce — it's a complete reclamation.
One under-the-radar tell: his QB hits per game had already recovered to 1.29 in 2023-2024, *better* than his rookie year (0.80). The pressure was always coming back; the sack finishes lagged it by a year, which is the typical rehabilitation arc for ACL-recovered edge rushers.
Through 12 games in 2025 he's already tied his career-best — and matching a 36-year-old Cameron Jordan stride for stride.
MilestoneTop Saints single-season sack totals since 2017
| Player | Year | G | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Jordan | 2019 | 16 | 16.5 |
| Cameron Jordan | 2017 | 16 | 14.0 |
| Cameron Jordan | 2021 | 17 | 12.5 |
| Cameron Jordan | 2018 | 16 | 12.0 |
| Cameron Jordan | 2025 | 17 | 10.5 |
| Chase Young | 2025 | 12 | 10.0 |
Young's 10.0 sacks in 12 games puts him on pace for ~14 sacks over a full slate — which would tie his career-best and approach Cameron Jordan's 2019 ceiling of 16.5.
The context: this is a Saints defense that finished 26th in team sacks last year and rebuilt around Young as the centerpiece edge. The contract he signed — a 1-year prove-it deal — already looks like one of the most lopsided values in free agency, and he's outpacing the franchise legend playing across from him.
Career sacks among 2020 EDGE first-rounders: he leads, but only because of one breakout 2025 season.
Comparison2020 EDGE first-rounders, career through 2025
| Player | Pick | 2025 Sacks | Career Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Young | 2 | 10.0 | 32.0 |
| A.J. Epenesa | 54 | — | 24.0 |
| K'Lavon Chaisson | 20 | 7.5 | 17.5 |
| Yetur Gross-Matos | 38 | — | 17.0 |
The 2020 EDGE draft was supposed to be deep — Young at #2, Chaisson at #20, Gross-Matos at #38. Five years on, Chaisson is on his 4th team (Commanders, 2025), Gross-Matos has settled in as a rotation piece, and Epenesa (a 2nd-rounder) has been the steadiest of the group.
Without 2025, Young's career would be roughly tied with Epenesa. The 10-sack outlier season is doing the work of turning a 'former DROY who never recovered' narrative into a 'first-rounder who finally arrived.' Voters tend to anchor on the most recent year — and the most recent year is the best he's ever played.
Career-best games still come in his old division — 2 sacks twice vs the NFC East.
SplitYoung's biggest single-game outings
| Year | Wk | Team | Opp | Sacks | QB Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7 | WAS | vs NYG | 2.0 | 2 |
| 2024 | 15 | NO | vs WAS | 2.0 | 2 |
For all the production highs, Young has never had a 3-sack game in his career — just two career 2-sack outings, and both came against NFC East opponents.
The 2024 Week 15 game vs his former team Washington was a low-key revenge note: 2 sacks, 2 QB hits against the franchise that drafted him #2 overall and let him walk. Notably, his 2025 production is more spread out — he's posted 9 games with at least 1 sack in 12 games, the highest games-with-sack rate of his career.
FanIQ answers any NFL stats question with receipts, on your phone.
Get FanIQ freeGet it on Google Play