Instant Reaction: Why ESPN's Louis Riddick loves Byron Young to the LA Rams in the third round
ESPN’s Louis Riddick is all in on the Los Angeles Rams selecting Tennessee edge rusher Byron Young in the third round of the NFL Draft Friday night in Kansas City.
“I love this pick,” Riddick said on the ESPN broadcast. “I love it.”
The Rams got Young at 77th overall, completing a run of four former Vols taken over the course of nine picks in the third round. Hendon Hooker went to the Detroit Lions at No. 68, followed by wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, at No. 73 to the New York Giants, and Cedric Tillman, at No. 74 to the Cleveland Browns.
Byron Young can be ‘Von Miller-like’ in the NFL
“This guy is a phenomenal, phenomenal athlete,” Riddick said of Young. “And if you’re the Los Angeles Rams, you’re going OK, we’ve got some juice coming off the edge. Because you’re talking about a 6-foot-2, 250-pound player who runs 4.41, who can get around that edge, Von Miller-like. Now, if we want to make a comparison, as far as guys who can bend and get their shoulders down, this is the dude.
“This guy has lighting quick get-off,” Riddick added. “He’s lightning quick on stunts and twists. He has a motor that will consistently get after your quarterback. He’s not going to give up. He’s going to chase you down sideline to sideline. Just like that. And I’ll tell you this, if you’re the LA Rams, this is the kind of guy that you can stand him up in a two-point (stance), you can put him down in a three-point and a wide nine.
During his two-year career at Tennessee, Young recorded 83 total tackles — 42 solo, 41 assisted — with 23.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks. He had a breakout junior season in 2021, with 46 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and an interception in 10 games. He had 34 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks in 12 games this season.
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From the Dollar Store to Junior College, Tennessee to the NFL
Tennessee signed Young out of Georgia Military College in December 2020. He attended Carvers Bay High School in Hemingway, S.C., and was working at a Dollar General Store when he saw a flyer to try out for the football team at Georgia Military College.
There he became a three-star junior-college prospect, ranked No. 9 overall in the On3 Consensus junior college ratings. He was the No. 1 edge rusher in the class and the No. 1 junior-college prospect out of Georgia.
“Man, it’s the story about what college — the academic and the athletic opportunity that these guys have,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on Thursday. “You get an opportunity to change your life for the rest of your life. And ‘BY’ is a perfect example of that. A guy that has grown so much just in his ability to communicate, his leadership traits while he was here over the course of two years. Fundamentally really grew. He’s a guy that, when he got here, was really young in his football career, being at the junior college for a year there.
“Everybody knows his (story) until now, the first couple nights, that guy is going to have his name called and be heading off to a new NFL city. His best football is still way out in front of him. But man, what an unbelievable story. Love his work ethic. He’s handled the process extremely well too. He’s just gotten rave reviews from NFL people as we’ve talked to him here on the back half of the process.”
