Former Tennessee standout Byron Young has landed on NFL.com’s Top 100 players list for the first time in his career this offseason. The Los Angeles Rams pass rusher comes in as the No. 84 player in the league after a strong season last year.
Young was selected for his first-ever Pro Bowl during his third season in the league in 2025. He racked up career highs in tackles (82), solo tackles (45), assisted tackles (37), and sacks (12.0) during the season. He also tallied one forced fumble and 5.5 stuffs during the year.
“Forget the buzz over a potential Aaron Donald comeback after the Myles Garrett trade. Garrett is already teaming up with a premier pass rusher,” NFL.com’s Bobby Kownack writes. “Young was the lone member of Los Angeles’ defense to reach double-digit sacks last season and is superb at setting the edge. His 79.3 PFF run defense grade was 10th among pass rushers, boosted by 40 run stops, which was second at the position. To teams planning on overcommitting to slowing Garrett, beware: Young can make you pay in a hurry.”
According to the NFL’s Pro Insight, “Young collected 12 sacks on 54 pressures, good for a 22.2% pressure-to-conversion rate. Young has now increased his pressure-to-conversion rate in each of the last two seasons, going from 12.7% as a rookie to 15% in Year 2 before his most recent uptick.”
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This is the second Top 100 NFL list that Young has landed on this offseason. Back in June, Young was tabbed as the No. 82 player in the NFL by CBS Sports. Young was the only former Tennessee player on CBS Sports’ list, and is the only Tennessee player through No. 100-67 on NFL.com’s list so far.
“He has been a force on the Rams’ defensive line since entering the league and had his best season with 12 sacks in 2025,” CBS’ Pete Prisco wrote about Young. “Now he gets the benefit of playing alongside Myles Garrett.”
Other Tennessee stars in the NFL include Chiefs OL Trey Smith, Saints RB Alvin Kamara, Vikings WR Jauan Jennings, and Titans CB Alontae Taylor. Judging by CBS Sports’ Top 100, though, there’s a chance that none of those four players land on the NFL’s list either.
Tennessee is in a bit of transitional period when it comes to NFL players. Out of the 41 total Tennessee players who are either in the NFL this summer, 33 of them spent at least one year in Knoxville during the Josh Heupel era. There’s still plenty of time for some of these players to develop in the league and make their mark on these lists sometime down the road.
Possible Tennessee candidates to wind up on this list in the coming years include CB Colton Hood, WR Chris Brazzell, DL Omarr Norman-Lott, OG Trey Smith, DL James Pearce Jr., and CB Jermod McCoy if he can stay healthy.
