Chase Young is enjoying a renaissance in New Orleans.
After putting together the best pass-rushing season of his career in 2025, the former No. 2 overall pick has carried that form into 2026. Through three games, the former first-round pick has earned a 90.3 PFF pass-rush grade, the third-best mark among qualifying defenders, while generating 12 pressures and five sacks on 82 pass-rush snaps.
Chase Young: 2026 pass-rushing profile
Metric Rank Among EDGE Pass-rush grade 90.3 3rd Adjusted pass-rush grade 95.1 6th Pressure rate 14.60% 26th Pass-rush win rate 22.40% 6th Double-team rate 24.40% T-81Young’s 90.3 pass-rush grade trails only Aidan Hutchinson (91.5) and Will Anderson Jr. (91.0) among qualifying defenders, while his 22.4% pass-rush win rate ranks sixth.
He has been even more productive on true pass sets, generating 10 pressures and three sacks across 41 such snaps. His 24.4% pressure rate and 28.6% pass-rush win rate in those situations both rank top-15 at the position.
And this isn't simply a three-game hot streak. Young's recent production continues a pass-rushing resurgence that began last season.
Chase Young | Career pass-rushing production
Season Team Pass-rush snaps Pass-rush grade Total pressures Pressure rate 2026 NO 82 90.3 12 14.6% 2025 NO 285 86.3 49 17.2% 2024 NO 482 66.0 66 13.7% 2023 SF / WAS 573 74.5 74 12.9% 2022 WAS 63 62.8 7 11.1% 2021 WAS 297 71.2 24 8.1% 2020 WAS 498 75.9 42 8.4%Young’s first season in New Orleans produced mixed results. He generated 66 pressures but finished the year with a 66.0 pass-rush grade.
Things changed considerably in 2025 when he put up an 86.3 pass-rush grade, easily the best mark of his career, while turning 285 pass-rush snaps into 49 pressures and a career-high 12 sacks. His 17.2% pressure rate was also a career best and represented a significant jump from the 13.7% mark he posted the previous season.
That upward trajectory has continued through the opening three games of 2026. Young’s 90.3 pass-rush grade would establish another career high if sustained, and his five sacks have already put him nearly halfway to his 2025 total.
The improvement is even clearer when compared with the beginning of his career. Young generated pressure on 8.4% of his pass-rush snaps during his rookie season and 8.1% in 2021. That figure climbed to 12.9% in 2023 and 13.7% in his first year with the Saints before jumping to 17.2% last season.
The early returns in run defense haven't been as strong. Young has earned a 48.6 run-defense grade across 60 snaps, currently the lowest mark of his career.
But his pass-rushing production has really stood out to begin the campaign. After never earning a pass-rush grade above 75.9 over his first five NFL seasons, Young broke through with an 86.3 mark in 2025 and has followed it with a 90.3 grade to start 2026.
For a player whose early career never quite developed along the path his rookie season seemed to promise, New Orleans has provided the setting for a second act.