5 Quick Thoughts on the Chase Young suspension for a possible NCAA violation.
Chase Young took some money from a family friend, paid it back, and now he’s being held out against Maryland as a precautionary measure to make sure everything is kosher with the NCAA. Obviously, he’s history’s greatest monster.
This is exactly the type of thing we’re all hoping to get rid of. Did Young break any laws? No. Did he really do anything wrong? No. Should he be able to take money from a family friend, an uncle, an “uncle,” a booster, a random fan, a shoe company, an agent, or just about anyone else who wants to give it to him – without having to pay it back? OF COURSE. The NCAA is just trying to send a shot across the bow to show that it’s still the NCAA, and the players aren’t. If players were unionized this would go away in two seconds.
Think about where we are now. Just over a year ago, Ohio State was a hot mess. Urban Meyer was being suspended, the Zach Smith disaster gave the program an ugly look, and the general view was that the monster football school showed what it really cared about. Now, Ohio State is a sympathetic figure, the team is generally likable, it’s the No. 1 team in the nation, and 99% of all people are either on Chase Young’s side, or saying they’re not, but really are – especially if he played for their team.
This is actually a big positive for the Buckeyes. The one thing that can derail this season is a key injury. There’s no reason for Young to play against Maryland, and there’s no reason for him to play against Rutgers next week, either. Even if he wasn’t suspended, these next two weeks would’ve been perfect for that whole load management thing the kids are all talking about. Rest him up, and unleash a fresh, fired up, and healthy No. 2 on Penn State and Michigan.
Bottom line, what does it all mean? With Young’s suspension, the line against Maryland plummeted from Ohio State -43.5 to Ohio State -43.5, and his draft stock sank like a stone from the likely No. 3 overall pick in 2020 to … the likely No. 3 overall pick in 2020. This didn’t happen before the Penn State game, and the Buckeyes should be more than fine without him. This won’t do anything for his Heisman campaign – he wasn’t going to win it, anyway – with voters likely to only care about what he does in the big games coming up, and most of all, this will galvanize an already laser-focused team that much more.
