Tennessee EDGE Byron Young announces plans to play Orange Bowl prior to NFL declaration

Tennessee Volunteers edge rusher Byron Young announced on Thursday that he will play in the Orange Bowl in Miami prior to declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft. Young joined the Vols in 2021 after starting his career at Georgia Military College.

Per ESPN’s best-available breakdown, Young is the No. 9 defensive end on the board heading into the draft.

This season, Young posted 34 tackles with five sacks, bringing his two-year total up to 80 tackles with 10.5 sacks and an interception.

Prayed for times like this 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/6cTJRn5T38

— B.Y. (@byron_97) December 22, 2022

Young’s path to Tennessee wasn’t easy. After high school, he moved from South Carolina to the Columbus, Georgia, area. He served as an assistant manager at Dollar General for approximately 18 months before earning a spot at GMC through a tryout.

“Though it all, I learned that hard work, determination, and grit can take you wherever you want in life – you just have to work for it,” Young wrote. “With that, I want to say that the job is not finished. I look forward to taking the field with my brothers in the Orange Bowl before declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft. I can’t wait to see Vol Nation in Miami!”

The Orange Bowl versus the No. 7 Clemson Tigers is on Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. ET.

More on the 2023 NFL Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft takes place from Thursday, April 27 through Saturday, April 29 in Kansas City, Missouri. The event location this year is the plaza just outside of Union Station.

Round 1 of the NFL Draft begins at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, Apr. 27. Rounds 2-3 will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Apr. 28, and Rounds 4-7 will begin at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, Apr. 29. The draft broadcast runs throughout the weekend on both ESPN and NFL Network.

To be eligible for the NFL Draft, players must be at least three years removed from their final year of high school while having used up their collegiate eligibility. Underclassmen are able to request league approval to become eligible for the draft, as are players who have graduated prior to using up all of their collegiate eligibility. One hundred underclassmen gained approval for last year’s draft. Seventy-three of those 100 underclassmen received special eligibility while 27 of them were underclassmen who had completed their college degrees.

The 2023 NFL scouting combine will take place from Feb. 28 through March 6 in Indianapolis.