Let’s get ready for this week’s 2023 NFL Draft. We have you covered with all of our NFL Draft Scouting Reports & Prospect Profiles for this year’s class. Here’s a look at Byron Young.
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2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Byron Young (DL – Alabama)
6’3″ – 294 lbs.
Background:
Started five games as a freshman, rotating into the defense for 282 total snaps and finishing with 23-1.5-1.0. Played roughly the same number of snaps the following year, with one start, and recorded 26-5.5-0.5, then saw his role expand to 399 snaps (seven starts) and totaled 33-7.5-2.0. This past season was his most productive, with 548 snaps and a 48-5.5-4.0 line, starting all thirteen games he appeared in.
Positives:
Very well-built defensive lineman who comes with over 1,500 snaps of SEC experience for what may be college football’s most respected program, lining up anywhere from the B-gap outward, playing both tackle and end on four-man lines and the five-technique on three-man lines. Fires out low and does a nice job of keeping his pad level down. Shows impressive upper-body strength to jolt opponents on contact in the run game, allowing him to reset the line of scrimmage and control blocks easily when two-gapping. Lower-body flexibility is solid. Does a nice job of keeping his head up to locate the football, scraping toward the play direction with square shoulders. Gets good extension to lock out opponents and has heavy hands to discard when appropriate. Shows an impressive motor in pursuit. Active with his hands when rushing the passer; wasn’t the most productive, but can often attract extra attention from opposing offensive linemen. Shows some ability to set up blockers, work a rip move, and skinny through gaps to generate inside pressure.
Negatives:
May be slightly shorter than some teams look for in a five-technique end. Reaction times to the ball being snapped often lag behind his teammates. May not quite have the closing burst to finish his rushes consistently at the next level, and wasn’t a true sack artist in school either. Level of activity with his hands is impressive when rushing the passer, but doesn’t always look like he has a clear plan. Doesn’t present much of a threat to win the edge when working from wide alignments.
Summary:
A much more traditional Alabama defensive lineman than his teammate Will Anderson Jr., he has the impressive combination of size, physicality, toughness, functional strength, discipline, technique, and versatility that the program is usually associated with. Those traits allow him to attack and control blockers as a run defender in the team’s two-gap defensive fronts, whether he’s lined up as a defensive tackle in an even front or on the end of a three- or four-man line. A safe bet to do the same at the second level.
Projection: Round 3
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