Byron Young

Pos: EDGE

School: Tennessee

Ht. 6’2″ 

Wt. 250

Games Watched: Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama

One Liner: Undersized edge rusher who wins with functional strength, motor, and twitchy athleticism

Strengths: 

  • Very good functional strength. Young plays with strong arms and well built upper body to attack offensive lineman at the POA. He actually anchors quite well against the run for a 250 pound player, and is capable of holding up and setting the edge well even when shading in as a 4i with his hand in the dirt.
  • Very good athlete. Young is a twitchy, quick athlete who is capable of making quick short area bursts in order to beat offensive tackles when rushing the edge. 
  • Good pass rushing motor. Young is an aggressive, feisty rusher who generates some shock with his strength and a striding first step that sends him straight into the blockers chest.
  • Good explosiveness off the line. Young is able to generate a jump out of his stance with a strong lower body and leg movements that allow him to pop into the POA

Weaknesses:

  • Adequate get off. While he does have a long stride generated from an explosive first step, Young doesn’t have a quick first step, and is oftentimes the last one off the line when rushing the passer. He takes many false steps, which marginalizes his explosiveness off the line, especially when he’s defending with his hand in the dirt. 
  • Marginal rush counters. Young displays a developing rush arsenal, with rare swim moves and tug + pull counters, a concerning look for a 25 year old rusher.
  • Marginal bend and cornering. You would expect an undersized, twitchy rusher like Young to have some flattening and bend to his game yet he displays very little cornering and chest flattening plays rushing the edge, showing signs of some rush stiffness.
  • Adequate hand usage. Young needs more activity with his strong arms and hands, a correctable trait that could go a long way helping him separate off the edge at the next level. He generates great leg drive, but I would also like to see him work his hands on more consistent tug and pulls as he reaches the NFL.

Overall Assessment: Byron Young is an older prospect at the age of 25, and is rather raw for a player at that age, but he shows a foundation of desirable traits that a team could work with to make him a capable rotational rusher off the edge. Young has nice run defending ability with great leg drive, and overall functional strength, and displays great twitch to win against offensive tackles when rushing the passer. However, Young is not particularly fluid or flexible at the POA, and he needs to refine his technique and rush arsenal to become a more consistent presence at the next level. For now, he can be an early down contributor as well as a special teams body at the next level. 

Scheme Fit: Wide 9 technique in a bear front. 

Pick Projection: Late 3rd – 4th 

Grade: 6.14