Chase Young of the Washington Commanders pose with Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers after the game at Levi’s Stadium on December 24, 2022 in Santa Clara, California.
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Young made that much clear when speaking to reporters on Monday. He said that Bosa called him five minutes after news of the trade broke, and being on the same line as a man he considers his “big brother” again will feel just like the good ol’ days of five years ago — especially since it felt like Columbus, Ohio would be the last time they’d both be wearing the same uniform.
“Even in college we never thought that we would ever be able to play with each other again,” Young said. “I think it’s going to be just like in college, just a race to the quarterback kind of. It’s going to be real fun, that’s all I know.”
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The two former Buckeyes were absolutely a force to be reckoned with when they shared the field, but that wasn’t as often as you’d think hearing Young talk about it. The two played just 11 games with one another over two seasons at Ohio State (nine in 2017, two in 2018). It’s also worth noting that most of that competition was outmatched by comparison. Young and Bosa faced just three nationally ranked opponents together — No. 2 Penn State and No. 12 Michigan State in the 2017 regular season and No. 8 USC in the 2017 Cotton Bowl — and all three games happened in their first year together, which was Young’s freshman year. Otherwise, they dominated teams like Oregon State, 77-31.
That’s not to discount what the two are capable of on their own. After all, each one was selected at the No. 2 spot in back-to-back NFL drafts because of their respective collegiate output.
Instead, this simply highlights that this duo has a lot of unfinished business. Think about it: the two see one another as basically family, and in the two seasons they overlapped in college, one of them was on the sideline more often than the two of them were on the field together. When they were fortunate enough to line up together, it was either against players who wouldn’t even sniff an NFL practice squad, or before Young truly unlocked his potential. This is to say, they were far from the peak of their powers back then.
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Even now that they’re together again, this could very well be a limited opportunity. Young is on an expiring deal, and it doesn’t seem that the Niners want anything more than a half-season rental. The two might have just nine regular season games, plus whatever comes in the playoffs, together for the rest of their respective careers, and it’s coming at a time when both players have a lot to prove. Amidst a three-game skid, Bosa needs to show the money the Niners gave him was worth it, and Young, who previously played for a perennial loser, needs to show he’s worth his first big money contract in the NFL. The fact that the older Buckeye used his bye week to acclimate his protégé to the Niners’ defense, and the fact that Young went along with it, is evidence that they really want this to work.
The stars are aligning for these two to really show out for San Francisco, and themselves, during the second half of the season. Their sacks might not come as easily as they did in college, but having these two incredibly talented, and physically dominant, players chasing after the same quarterback again sure looks like it will be, as Young said, “real fun.”