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Ohio State has dominated the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honor the past 5 seasons

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Do you want to be the next NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year? If you play college football at Ohio State, you’re going to have a great chance to do so, based on recent history.

Saturday night, former Buckeye and Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young was named the NFL’s 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year. Young received the award after totaling 44 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 4 passes defended, 4 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and a defensive touchdown in his first season.

Young was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft and was the preseason favorite to take home the honor. He also became the fourth Buckeye in five seasons to be named the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Dating back to 2016, a former Buckeye has claimed the award four times. Defensive end Joey Bosa was the winner in 2016 and cornerback Marshon Lattimore was presented with honor the following year in 2017.

Following the 2019 season, defensive end Nick Bosa was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Young was this year’s winner. The only year a Buckeye did not win the award in that stretch (2018), it was presented to former South Carolina State star Darius Leonard.

Not a bad advertisement for the coaching staff in Columbus.

Will Ohio State continue to dominate the award in 2021? We’ll have to wait about a year to find out.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB