Chase Young was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on April 14, 1999. He began playing American football as a child, later attending St. Columba School in Oxon Hill, Maryland. In 2013, he began attending St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland, where he played high school football. He played quarterback, tight end, and outside linebacker before switching to defensive end later his freshman year. As a sophomore the following year, he and the team won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C-conference championship. He was also a member of the school’s choir, playing the piano, saxophone, and violin.

In 2015, he transferred to DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he had 19 sacks and 27 tackles for loss as a junior, helping the team win the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship. In July 2016, he was invited to The Opening, a college football recruiting camp sponsored by Nike, where he was named positional MVP. As a senior in 2016, he had 19 sacks, 118 tackles, five forced fumbles, and two defensive touchdowns that helped the team go undefeated and win another WCAC championship. By then, he was recognized as one of the best high school football players in the nation, where he was included on the 2016 USA Today All-USA team and named all-metropolitan defensive football player of the year by The Washington Post. He was also invited to the International Bowl and All-American Bowl, playing on the East team for the latter.

Young received scholarship offers from over 40 colleges before committing to Ohio State University in July 2016, choosing them over other schools such as Alabama and Maryland due to their approach that he felt was more family-oriented. He also wished to play under Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who personally recruited him and whom he considered a “guru”. As a freshman for the Buckeyes in 2017, Young recorded 3.5 sacks, 18 tackles, and a forced fumble as a reserve player. Young became a starter during his sophomore season, lining up alongside Nick Bosa before he suffered a season-ending injury early in the season. Despite spraining both ankles mid-season, Young recorded 10.5 sacks that year, including three against Northwestern in the 2018 Big Ten Football Championship Game. He was named to that season’s second-team All-Big Ten team for his performance.

Young’s father Greg played college basketball at Bowie State University before working as a police deputy with the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office, while his mother Carla works for the Office of Investigations for the Department of Transportation. He has a sister, Weslie, who played college basketball at North Carolina Wesleyan. Young also played other sports while growing up, such as basketball and sprinting. At DeMatha he played alongside Markelle Fultz in basketball, who was later selected first overall in the 2017 NBA draft. At the time, both Young and Fultz set goals to be the first overall draft pick in their respective sports.

Young was named one of the team captains as a junior in 2019. That year, he tied Ohio State school records for single-game sacks (4) and tackles for loss (5) in a win against Wisconsin. In November 2019, Young was suspended for two games by the NCAA for getting an unauthorized loan from a family friend to allegedly help his girlfriend attend the 2019 Rose Bowl, which he later repaid in full. In his first game after being reinstated, Young recorded three sacks against Penn State. He ended the season with 16.5 sacks, 46 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 7 forced fumbles, 3 batted passes, and a blocked field goal. His 16.5 sacks broke the single-season school record previously held by Vernon Gholston, who had 14 in 2007.

Young decided to forgo his senior year at Ohio State by declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft, where he was considered by many to be the best overall prospect. He attended the NFL Combine but did not participate in any workouts or drills, stating that he did not want to waste time being a “combine athlete”. Young was one of 58 players invited to the draft, which was held virtually due to social distancing regulations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. He was selected second overall by the Washington Football Team, known at the time as the Redskins prior to a name change later that offseason. He signed his four-year rookie contract with them, worth US$34.56 million, on July 23, 2020.