Ohio State Football: 3 reasons Chase Young should win 2019 Heisman Trophy

2. Young’s dominance translates

It’s hard to argue dominance among the Heisman Trophy finalists and keep Chase Young part of the conversation. Young is by far the best, most dominant defensive player in college football this season. He might be the most unblockable defensive player in the history of college football.

However, his fellow finalists have something he doesn’t: more numbers.

Offensive players simply have more opportunity for more statistics than defensive players. Take a look at Heisman front-runner Joe Burrow’s numbers: 77.9 completion percentage, 4,715 yards, 48 touchdowns, 93.7 QBR, 201.5 QB rating, 289 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. He also broke the SEC record for passing yards in a single season. Most casual fans don’t even know what QBR and QB rating are. His stat line in impressive. One reason is that it’s long, and it’s also really good. His numbers are also a product of the ridiculous talent around him.

Let’s look at Young’s numbers: 44 total tackles, 31 unassisted tackles, 13 assists, 21 tackles for loss, 129 tackle for loss yards, 17 sacks and seven forced fumbles. Young missed two games this season as well. The games he missed just happened to be against two of the worse offensive lines in the country.

Young’s impact is more than just his stats, however. Every defensive coordinator had nightmares trying to scheme and slow down Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields. Offensive coordinators changed philosophies trying to account for Young, however.

Watch how many times Wisconsin, Michigan, and Penn State completely changed what they do on offense to make sure Young had as little impact on the game as possible. James Franklin put it best in the pre-game presser.

“You can’t stop Chase Young, you just have to make plays between the plays he makes,” Franklin said as he chuckled at the question.