Chase Young is the best player in the Big Ten.
The Buckeye defensive end won this season's Chicago Tribune Silver Football Award, given annually to the Big Ten's top player, as voted on by the conference's coaches.
Young won the award decisively, getting nine of 13 possible first-place votes for a total of 19 points. Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor finishes second in the voting with 12 points, getting three first-place votes, followed by Young's Buckeye teammates Justin Fields (five points, two first-place votes) and J.K. Dobbins (four points).
Ohio State players made up 75 percent of the finalists for the prestigious postseason award this season, as Young, Fields and Dobbins were all listed as finalists.
The Buckeye pass rusher is the first defensive player to win the Silver Football since Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham shared the award with Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark in 2009. Young is also Ohio State's first winner on the defensive side of the ball.
Perhaps the most dominant player in college this season, Young leads the nation with 16.5 sacks despite only playing 10 games and rarely playing in the second half of games. And he's played his best games against the best competition. Against Penn State and Wisconsin – both current top-10 teams – Young averaged 7.5 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
With the award, Young becomes Ohio State's 19th overall Silver Football winner, but its first on the defensive side of the ball. He is also the program's second-consecutive winner, following Dwayne Haskins from last season, giving Buckeye players six Silver Footballs in the past eight years.
Braxton Miller won the award twice in 2012 and 2013, followed by Ezekiel Elliott in 2015 and J.T. Barrett in 2016. Haskins is Ohio State's most recent winner, earning the award last season.
Young was also named both the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year.
The Buckeyes dominated the Big Ten Awards this season as Justin Fields was also named the conference's offensive player of the year and the media named Ryan Day the Big Ten Coach of the Year, giving Ohio State a three-way sweep.
