New 49ers DE Chase Young: Going to be fun to race Nick Bosa to the QB like at Ohio State

Chase Young‘s move from Washington to San Francisco following last week’s trade reunited the edge rusher with former Ohio State teammate Nick Bosa.

Young and Bosa spent two seasons together at OSU in 2017 and 2018. Young compiled 14 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss over those two seasons, while Bosa earned 8.5 sacks and 16 TFLs in 2017 before sitting out all but three games in 2018 (four sacks).

Now, the 49ers edge rush duo will aim to sideswipe quarterback together again. Young said on Monday that he heard from Bosa five minutes after the trade went down last week.

“Even in college, we never thought that we would ever be able to play with each other again,” Young said, via ESPN. “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.”

Entering Week 10, Bosa sits tied for sixth in the NFL with 41 QB pressures, per Next Gen Stats. Young is one pressure behind at 40 despite missing Week 1 due to injury. Young’s 17.2 QB pressure percentage ranks 11th in the NFL among players with at least 100 pass rush snaps.

Given the investment the 49ers made on the defensive line in the past year — giving Javon Hargrave a massive deal in free agency and making Bosa the highest-paid defensive player in the league — the assumption going into the stretch run is that Young, a pending free agent, potentially is a pass-rush rental for the final nine weeks and a playoff run.

“I’m not even worried about that right now,” Young said of his contract. “I’m just worried about learning this playbook and just being the best player that I can be.”

If Young continues to provide the pressure he showed this year in Washington, he’ll get his payday in March. In the meantime, he’s in a position to chase a Lombardi Trophy along the way.