Washington Redskins head coach Ron Rivera sees a lot of Julius Peppers in first-round pick Chase Young. Speaking with Kyle Bailey of WFNZ in Charlotte, Rivera spoke of the comparisons between the two defensive ends.
“Well you know, I’d love to turn him into a Julius Peppers type player, I mean to be honest with you. That’s who he reminded me of so much.”
“Getting to know Julius the last few years and then sitting down with Chase and just listening to him talk, I really thought that these two young men had some similarities. You know Chase is a little bit younger coming into the league than when Julius did, but he’s got a tremendous skill set, a lot like Julius coming out.”
Ron Rivera / WFNZ
Rivera isn’t the first to compare the two. Redskins linebacker Thomas Davis said Young reminds him of Peppers. Davis was a former teammate of Peppers in Carolina for seven seasons.
Peppers was a second overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Panthers. Peppers lived up to the billing, collecting 159.5 sacks throughout his 17-year career. It’s a career that seemingly will be honored with a bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Peppers was also a hometown hero in North Carolina before the Panthers drafted him. He starred at nearby UNC in two sports before he opted for football over basketball. He had a rare combination of speed and power that made him one of the more versatile defensive ends in the league.
Young will also get to play in close to home. Young starred at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD just footsteps from the Redskins’ home stadium FedEx Field. He too, possesses similar level of speed and power that Peppers had.
The similarities are why Rivera hopes Young connects with Peppers to pick his brain about playing the position and the advice on playing professionally close to home.
“I’m pretty excited about who [Young] could be for us,” Rivera added. “He’s a heck of a young man and he’s a local guy, too. That was the other parallel that I saw, was that he’s such a local guy. And I would like to at some point have him reach out to Julius just to see what it was like trying to manage staying pretty much in your backyard.”
Young admitted previously he and his father were fans of Peppers. In fact, Young said Peppers is the player he would compare himself to. The Redskins will certainly benefit if Young’s production on the field is anything comparable to Peppers,
