Recent reports have suggested that the Washington Redskins may trade back to a quarterback-needy team in an effort to gain draft capital to help expedite their rebuild. In addition, Tua Tagovailoa’s agent has been petitioning for a team like the Detroit Lions to draft him so that he can benefit from a year of sitting behind an established NFL quarterback.
If Chase Young and Isaiah Simmons are both miraculously available when the Giants select, who should they choose?
If both of these situations occur and the top three selections in the draft are all quarterbacks, the Giants would be in the enviable position of selecting between dominant edge rusher Chase Young of Ohio State University and highly versatile linebacker Isaiah Simmons of Clemson University.
While both players are supremely talented game-changing defenders, they would both bring completely different skill sets to the New York Giants. A scenario where the Giants were forced to choose between the two of them would force the team to determine which is a better fit for their new defensive scheme.
Chase Young is an edge rusher who is the ideal defensive end in a 4-3 defensive scheme or potentially an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defensive scheme. However, possessing an incredibly high football IQ, Young is capable of lining up at various positions on the field, including as an interior defensive lineman, when needed.
An elite athlete, who has the long muscular frame that looks every bit the part of a top-notch pass rusher in the NFL, Young uses his powerful physique to bring a physicality to his pass-rushing ability that allows him to dominate his opponents.
At 6’5″ and 265-pounds, Young is a physical freak. He is adept at utilizing his strong handwork to grab, punch, and stun opposing offensive linemen. Young has a dominant first step and an arsenal that includes a plethora of different pass-rushing moves and counter moves that allows him to get to the quarterback with ease.
Athletic enough to drop back into coverage when needed, Young is also excellent at containing his opponent’s run game. However, his elite pass-rushing skills are what his game is predicated around. Young is such a menace to opposing teams that he could often be seen drawing double and triple-team coverage from opponents while playing at Ohio State.
Meanwhile, Isaiah Simmons has been called a “unicorn on defense” by a number of analysts. This is due to the insane athletic ability he possesses, which has allowed him to become one of the most versatile defensive players ever to enter the NFL draft.
Despite a large 6’4″ and 240-pound frame, Simmons was athletic enough to split time at linebacker, safety, cornerback and on the defensive line. Incredibly, he excelled at all positions on the field.
This year at Clemson, Simmons played 14% of the time on the defensive line, 18% at safety, 32% at linebacker, and an incredible 36% of the time at cornerback. That kind of versatility makes defensive coordinators salivate at the plethora of options that a player of the caliber of Simmons allows for in defensive playcalling.
With speed that rivals that of his former college teammate and running back Travis Etienne, coverage skills that are on par with an elite cornerback, an innate ability to blitz with high efficiency and the propensity to make bone-jarring tackles regularly, Simmons is a unique defensive player that the league has never seen the likes of before.
With both players bringing elite game-changing talents to the NFL if presented with the unique option of selecting between Chase Young and Isaiah Simmons, who should the Giants select?
While aware of the fact that elite pass rushers are an integral part of the defense, rushing the quarterback and making the lives of defensive players who are in coverage that much easier, it is difficult to ignore the options that a versatile player like Simmons could bring to a defense.
With new Giants defensive coordinator utilizing a defensive scheme that is a hybrid combination of a 3-4 and a 4-3 defensive schemes, that leans heavier towards a base 3-4, it becomes easier to make a case for Simmons because Young projects better as a 4-3 defensive end than an outside linebacker and due to the fact that Simmons, could line up all over the field in exotic blitz packages.
Either way, if the Giants are miraculously presented with the opportunity to choose between the two players, they really cannot go wrong. Both players have the unique ability to single-handedly transform the face of a defense. Having the choice between the two players would undoubtedly present the Giants would a very difficult decision, one they would certainly embrace.