LA Rams pushing for Pro Bowl votes for rookie pass-rusher Byron Young
The Los Angeles Rams are pushing for Pro Bowl votes for rookie outside linebacker Byron Young. The former Tennessee standout leads all NFL rookies with 6.0 sacks this season and has 17 quarterback hits and 39 pressures.
Young is fifth on the team in tackles, with 52 — 36 solo, 16 assists — in 13 games. He’s tied with Aaron Donald with 6.0 sacks, leading the team, and his five tackles for loss are tied for fourth best.
Young signed his rookie contract with the Rams in July, the fifth of Tennessee’s five-player NFL Draft class to sign. LA selected Young in the third round with the 77th overall pick. Spotrac estimates the contract to be worth $5.56 million, including a signing with a $1.04 million signing bonus.
During two standout seasons at Tennessee, Young, the junior-college transfer, had 83 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks over 23 career games. He had 7.0 sacks and 12.0 tackles for loss last season, along with 37 total tackles. He had 5.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss, to go with 46 total tackles, in 2021.
😤 Leads all rookies with 6.0 sacks
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 13, 2023
😤 17 QB hits, 39 pressures
😤 #ProBowlVote @byron_97 pic.twitter.com/KTYMyoZNrY
Byron Young is final player in Tennessee’s 2023 NFL Draft class to sign contract
Young was one of four Tennessee players selected in the third round and the final name called in a span that saw all four Vols drafted within 10 picks of each other.
Hendon Hooker went No. 68 overall to the Detroit Lions and wide receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman went back-to-back, with Hyatt at No. 73 overall to the New York Giants and Brown at No. 74 overall to the Cleveland Browns.
Right tackle Darnell Wright was the Tennessee player drafted the highest, going at No. 10 overall to the Chicago Bears in the first round.
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Wright signed his rookie contract with the Chicago Bears on May 15 after going at No. 10 overall in the first round of the NFL Draft in April. Spotrac values Wright’s contract at $20.968 million, including $12.249 million signing bonus.
Darnell Wright was Vols’ highest OL pick in NFL Draft since 2014
Wright, Tennessee’s standout right tackle, was the second offensive tackle taken in the draft, after Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. went at No. 6 overall to the Arizona Cardinals. Wright was Tennessee’s first first-round pick since Derek Barnett went No. 17 overall to the Philadelphia Eagles and was the highest drafted offensive lineman from the Vols since Ja’Wuan James went No. 19 overall to the Miami Dolphins in 2014.
Hooker signed his contract with the Detroit Lions on May 12. Hooker was selected in the third round, picked at No. 68 overall. Spotrac values Hooker’s contract at $5.719 million, including $1.159 million as a signing bonus.
Hyatt signed his rookie contract with the New York Giants on May 15, with the contract valued by Spotrac at $5.610 million, including a $1,091 million signing bonus. A day later, on May 16, Tillman became the fourth former Tennessee player to sign in the 2023 draft class, with Spotrac estimating his contract to be worth $5.568 million, including a $1.091 million signing bonus.
