Byron Young (linebacker)
{{short description|American football player (born 1998)}}
{{for|the Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman|Byron Young (defensive lineman)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Byron Young
| image = Byron Young NFL Combine (cropped).png
| alt =
| caption = Young at the 2023 NFL Combine
| current_team = Los Angeles Rams
| number = 0
| position = Linebacker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1998|3|13}}
| birth_place = Georgetown, South Carolina, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lbs = 258
| high_school = Carvers Bay {{avoid wrap|(Hemingway, South Carolina)}}
| college = {{ubl|Georgia Military (2020)|Tennessee (2021–2022)}}
| draftyear = 2023
| draftround = 3
| draftpick = 77
| pastteams =
- Los Angeles Rams ({{NFL Year|2023}}–present)
| status = Active
| highlights =
- PFWA All-Rookie Team (2023)
- First-team All-SEC (2022)
| statweek =
| statseason = 2024
| statlabel1 = Total tackles
| statvalue1 = 123
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 15.5
| statlabel3 = Forced fumbles
| statvalue3 = 3
| statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries
| statvalue4 = 1
| statlabel5 = Pass deflections
| statvalue5 = 1
| statlabel6 = Defensive touchdowns
| statvalue6 =
| pfr = YounBy01
|statlabel7=Safeties|statvalue7=1}}
Byron Young (born March 13, 1998) is an American professional football linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Military College for one season before transferring to play with the Tennessee Volunteers.
Early life
Young attended Carvers Bay High School in Hemingway, South Carolina.{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Danny |date=October 27, 2022 |title=Carvers Bay product Byron Young named SEC defensive lineman of the week |url=https://www.postandcourier.com/georgetown/sports/carvers-bay-product-byron-young-named-sec-defensive-lineman-of-the-week/article_bdf10b88-5627-11ed-96f2-13a68d1a3394.html |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=Post and Courier |language=en}} Barely recruited coming out of high school, Young worked at Dollar General before walking on at Georgia Military College in 2020.{{Cite web |last=Ray |first=Matt |date=December 22, 2020 |title=Tennessee 'Just Felt Right' For Disruptive JuCo Edge Rusher Byron Young |url=https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/recruiting/tennessee-just-felt-right-for-disruptive-juco-edge-rusher-byron-young |access-date=October 16, 2022 |website=Sports Illustrated |language=en}}
College career
Following one season at Georgia Military College, Young was ranked the number 10 Junior College prospect and committed to Tennessee over Ole Miss.{{Cite web |title=Byron Young, Georgia Military College Bulldogs, Linebacker |url=https://247sports.com/Player/Byron-Young-46109385/junior-college-257456/ |access-date=October 16, 2022 |website=247Sports |language=en-US}} Initially a backup in his first season at the University of Tennessee in 2021, Young started the last 8 games recording 46 total tackles and led the team with 5.5 sacks.{{Cite web |last=Paschall |first=David |date=August 13, 2022 |title=Byron Young wants to dominate SEC in second year with Vols |url=https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2022/aug/13/young-wanting-dominate-sec-second-year-vols/ |access-date=October 16, 2022 |website=Chattanooga Times Free Press |language=en}}
In the Volunteers Week 6 game against LSU in 2022, Young recorded 2.5 sacks and was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) defensive lineman of the week for his performance.{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Ethan |date=October 11, 2022 |title=Tennessee football: Quarterbacks beware, Byron Young is hitting his stride |url=https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/tennessee-football/tennessee-football-byron-young-hitting-his-stride/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |website=Saturday Down South |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Patrick |date=October 10, 2022 |title=Two Vols earn weekly SEC honors after win at LSU |url=https://247sports.com/college/tennessee/Article/Byron-Young-Chase-McGrath-Tennessee-Vols-Football-SEC-Weekly-Awards-Defensive-Lineman-Special-Teams-Win-At-LSU-195187237/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |website=GoVols247 |language=en-US}} At the conclusion of the season he was named to the All-SEC first team.{{Cite web |date=December 6, 2022 |title=2022 All-SEC Football Teams Announced |url=https://www.secsports.com/article/35196967/2022-all-sec-football-teams-announced |access-date=April 20, 2023 |website=SEC Sports}}
Professional career
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 2 3/8
| weight = 250
| dash = 4.43
| ten split = 1.62
| twenty split = 2.58
| cone drill = 7.19
| vertical = 38.0
| broad ft = 11
| broad in = 0
| bench = 22
| arm span = 32 1/2
| hand span = 9 1/4
| note = All values from NFL Combine{{Cite web |title=Byron Young Draft and Combine Prospect Profile |url=https://www.nfl.com/prospects/byron-young/3200594f-5512-7040-ee4b-f8bc5d0b4a6e |access-date=April 17, 2023 |website=NFL.com}}{{Cite web |title=2023 NFL Draft Scout Byron Young College Football Profile |url=https://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=1055886&DraftYear=2023 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |website=DraftScout.com}}
}}
Young was selected in the third round (77th overall) by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2023 NFL draft.{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Stu |date=April 28, 2023 |title=READ: Rams select Tennessee OLB Byron Young with 77th pick in 2023 NFL Draft |url=https://www.therams.com/news/byron-young-nfl-draft-defensive-end-tennessee |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=TheRams.com}} The Rams acquired the 77th overall pick from the Miami Dolphins after trading cornerback Jalen Ramsey for tight end Hunter Long.{{Cite web |last=Arthur |first=Kenneth |date=March 12, 2023 |title=Rams trade Jalen Ramsey to Dolphins |url=https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2023/3/12/23636497/rams-jalen-ramsey-trade-rumors-dolphins |access-date=January 12, 2024 |website=Turf Show Times |language=en}}
Heading into his first training camp & preseason, Byron Young was a starting outside linebacker. At the end of the NFL preseason, head coach Sean McVay named Young a starting outside linebacker to begin the season, opposite Michael Hoecht.
Byron Young made his first career start and NFL debut in the Rams' Week 1 victory against the Seattle Seahawks, notching his first career split-sack and playing in 84% of the defensive snaps during the win.{{Cite web |title=Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks - September 10th, 2023 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202309100sea.htm |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} The following week, he notched his first full career sack in the Rams' 30–23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.{{Cite web |title=San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams - September 17th, 2023 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202309170ram.htm |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} He would notch another half-sack in the Rams' 16–19 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals the following week.{{Cite web |title=Los Angeles Rams at Cincinnati Bengals - September 25th, 2023 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202309250cin.htm |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 9, Young recorded his first multi-sack game, although the Rams lost 20–3. {{Cite web |title=Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers - November 5th, 2023 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202311050gnb.htm |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} He finished the season recording three more sacks in his final five games of the season.
As a rookie, Young played in all 17 games (16 starts) and played in 85% of the team's defensive snaps. He finished his rookie season leading all rookie edge rushers with 8 sacks, 61 total tackles (42 solo), two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.{{Cite web |title=Byron Young 2023 Game Log |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/Y/YounBy01/gamelog/2023/ |access-date=January 12, 2024 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} Additionally, Young earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors at the end of the season.{{Cite web |title=2023 NFL All-Rookie Team |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/awards/nfl-all-rookie-2023.htm |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}}
NFL career statistics
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |Legend |
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;" |
|Led the league |
| Bold
|Career high |
= Regular season =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="5" | Tackles ! colspan="4"| Fumbles ! colspan="4"| Interceptions | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck
!Sfty | FF | FR | Yds | TD | Int | Yds | TD | PD | ||
| 2023 || LAR
| 17|| 16|| 61 || 42|| 19 || 8.0 |—|| 2 || 1 || 0 || — || — || — || — || — || | |||||||||||||||
| 2024 || LAR
| 17|| 16|| 62|| 34 || 28|| 7.5 |style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|1|| 1 || 0 || 0 || — || — || — || — || 1|| | |||||||||||||||
| colspan="2" | [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/Y/YounBy01.htm Career] | 34 | 32 | 123 | 76 | 47 | 15.5
!1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Twitter}}
{{footballstats|yahoo=40124|espn=4875196|nfl=byron-young}}
- [https://www.therams.com/team/players-roster/byron-young/ Los Angeles Rams bio]
- [https://utsports.com/sports/football/roster/byron--young/15005 Tennessee Volunteers bio]
{{Los Angeles Rams roster navbox}}
{{Los Angeles Rams 2023 draft navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Byron}}
Category:People from Georgetown, South Carolina
Category:Sportspeople from Georgetown County, South Carolina
Category:Players of American football from South Carolina
Category:American football defensive ends
Category:American football linebackers