LOS ANGELES — The title Byron Young has bestowed upon himself is tattooed across the back of his shoulders, like his surname on his blue Rams jersey, a distinction he made permanent midway through his rookie season, even as his shoulder pads irritated the freshly inked skin that week in practice.
Underdog.
“For me it was just a testimony to everything I’ve been through, just always being overlooked,” Young explained, before adding, “sometimes I still feel like I’m overlooked.”
Everything he’s been through, from working at Dollar General after being unrecruited out of high school, to walking on at Georgia Military College, to having to earn his starting job at Tennessee.
And don’t forget a false alarm on draft day, making him think he was going to be selected by the Las Vegas Raiders, who drafted a defensive tackle by the same name.
Some have twisted this story into the Raiders selected “the wrong Byron Young.” But Young doesn’t believe that. What actually happened was that Vegas texted his agent that they would be drafting him, and his agent relayed that message to Young. Before he could tell his family, his agent texted back that the Raiders had contacted the wrong agent as they intended to select the Byron Young that was a defensive lineman out of Alabama.
Not that that made the experience any less excruciating for Young in the moment.
“Understand how this happened, right. My whole family’s there, my agent says, ‘Never mind, they texted the wrong agent.’ I know they’re about to say Byron Young on the TV. Cameras on my face, I didn’t say nothing, I’m just sitting there. And then they say the name, family started cheering, I had to say ‘No, that’s not me, that’s not me,’” Young recalled. “It was a terrible feeling, not going to lie, that they said my name and it wasn’t me.”
But seven picks later in that third round, the Rams selected Young 77th overall. In the two-plus years since then, he has begun to make his name in the NFL. And with his performance through the first two weeks of his third season, he’s raised his own bar.
“All I gotta say is pay him when the time comes,” Rams safety Quentin Lake proclaimed.
Young got a clear signal about an opportunity ahead of him in March when outside linebacker Michael Hoecht left the Rams in free agency for the Buffalo Bills. It was a bittersweet moment for Young, for whom Hoecht had served as a mentor.
But it also was an opening for Young to take on a bigger role in the Rams’ defense, both practically and from a leadership perspective.
Young, 27, attacked the physical aspect of the offseason by adding pilates to his regimen. He joked that at first he thought the instructor was trying to kill him, but soon he felt the benefits. His flexibility increased, and with it his bend as he tried to get around offensive tackles in the pass rush.
As he realized that he was now the veteran in the outside backer room, Young tried to fill the void that Hoecht had previously occupied with penetrating questions in meeting rooms and a helpful hand to younger teammates.
“As a guy that’s older and going into the third year, I knew I had to step up and try to be some type of leader in our group,” Young said. “Being around a guy like that, he does everything right, I just try to be like him, some of his things. When he’s on the field, he gives 100% effort every play, so I’m just trying to mimic that a little bit.”
That level of effort was a point of emphasis that Rams outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio gave Young entering training camp.
“The thing that he knew that we needed to improve upon was the consistency of his play,” Coniglio said. “The down in, down out snaps, the ability to make plays and be a factor on a down-to-down basis and then finding his opportunities and letting them go shine and thrive.”
Through two weeks this season, Young has nine quarterback pressures and three sacks, including a strip sack of Tennessee’s Cam Ward that cemented the Rams’ win this past weekend. Nine of his 12 tackles have been classified by Pro Football Focus as “stops,” or failed plays by the offense.
But where head coach Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Chris Shula have focused their praise has been on Young’s consistent effort, not the splashy plays that have stood out, with McVay deeming each performance the most “complete” of Young’s career.
“I thought he took his game to the next level,” McVay said after the win over the Titans.
“You can’t find many bad snaps,” Shula added.
“That boy is dogging people. I don’t know why some people are surprised by it,” outside linebacker Jared Verse said. “I’m like, bro, the dude ran a 4.4 [40-yard dash]. He can run by people.”
Despite all that praise from his coaches and teammates, Young still feels like an underdog. Not discussed as a cornerstone of a defense that features Verse and Kobie Turner. Forgotten in the national discussion of the Rams (2-0), despite his years of service.
“I guess I’m used to it. It’s not something that I’m salty about but just something about just my life that I’ve always kind of been through,” Young said. “I like to feel that way, though, I don’t like to get complacent or feel like I made it or I have nothing else to work for. I have so much else to work for and so much more goals I want to accomplish.”
Notes
Rams left guard Steve Avila (ankle) did not practice Friday and is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s road game against the Philadelphia Eagles (2-0).
Defensive end Braden Fiske (oblique) and tight end Colby Parkinson (AC sprain) were limited in practice Friday and listed as questionable for Sunday.
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