Chase Young is one of the most talented defensive ends in college football. It would be easy to leave it at that.

With Young having NFL potential — pretty high potential, mind you — his skills are more than enough to warrant him as one of the leaders on Ohio State’s defense. But in Columbus, there’s a bit of a standard when it comes to being a leader — one that Young has now embraced.

“The guys like him,” Ryan Day said, according to the Miami Herald. “He has a happy-go-lucky personality. I see more seriousness now. I think he knows this is his time to step up and be a leader.”

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Young has led by example in his first two seasons with the Buckeyes. Last season, he tallied 9.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss, more than doubling his totals from his freshman campaign. Now, with an even bigger role, more is expected from the talented defensive end.

His attitude off the field are beginning to match his actions on it. Linebacker Pete Werner says Young has become a guy who fires up his teammates each and every week.

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“He’s awesome,” Werner said. “He gets me pumped up. As far as taking a leadership role he’s made big steps. He’s that guy now on the team that everybody is going to learn from.”

Young and the Ohio State defense is expected to see massive improvement from last season. The staff changes on that side of the ball, and a simpler approach schematically could set the Buckeyes up for a solid year defensively.

Ohio State takes the field on Saturday, Aug. 31, opening the year against Florida Atlantic.