The Los Angeles Rams may have struck gold in the third round of the draft this year by selecting Byron Young out of Tennessee. He was taken 77th overall and through six weeks, he’s been arguably the best rookie edge rusher in the NFL – better than Tyree Wilson, Will Anderson Jr. and every edge rusher taken ahead of him.
Through Week 6, Young has the most pressures (25) and quarterback hits (8) of any rookie in the NFL. His pass-rush grade of 74.2 is the fourth-best of any rookie defender and his overall grade of 71.6 is the 10th-best among all first-year players.
There’s still plenty of room for him to improve, but considering he only played two years of Division I football and is just six games into his NFL career, he’s been better than the Rams could have hoped.
Young isn’t just using his 4.43 speed to win pass-rush reps, either. He’s not sprinting upfield without a plan, hoping to get around the offensive tackle. He’s already developed a good repertoire of pass-rush moves, which were on display Sunday against the Cardinals.
Brandon Thorn shared a four-play cutup of Young’s performance in Week 6 and he showed off speed, quickness and excellent hand technique to beat D.J. Humphries at left tackle. He also won on a twist with Kobie Turner on the interior to apply quick pressure on Josh Dobbs.
Byron Young winning with an inside chop x 2, outside chop and with a ghost move as the looper on a twist = juice pic.twitter.com/D46uXtnF8e
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) October 16, 2023
Young is still so early in his career, but he has immense potential as an edge rusher. Sean McVay said Monday night on the “Coach McVay Show” that he just keeps getting better every week, which is absolutely the truth. It’s scary to think about how good he’s going to be by the end of this season and even two, three years from now.
After cutting Leonard Floyd this offseason, the Rams desperately needed to find an impactful edge rusher. They appear to have found one in Young, who has been everything they hoped he’d be – and more.