NFL just validated what the Rams already knew about Byron Young, putting L.A. on track to field the league’s top edge duo
Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young just cracked into the NFL’s Top 100 players list on Thursday morning, a sign that the league has taken great notice of the Rams’ edge rusher set to play alongside Myles Garrett.
The NFL announced a second member of the Los Angeles Rams squad that cracked the NFL’s Top 100 players list going into the 2026 season with linebacker Byron Young coming in at the No. 84 spot.
Young is coming off his third season with the Rams and was named to his first career Pro Bowl in 2025 after posting a career-high 12.0 sacks and 74 pressures. He was one of the league’s top pass rushers and the rest of the NFL took notice of his breakout campaign.
The latest honor from his peers only validates what the Rams already knew about the former third-round draft pick.
Byron Young is inching closer to being viewed as an elite player for the Los Angeles Rams
Young has turned into a real standout pass rusher for the Rams defense, mixing together his speed, power, and relentlessness to become a real threat for opposing quarterbacks.
“A guy with a great motor, someone who’s always working,” Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young said during Young’s Top 100 reveal segment. “Know when you go up against him, it’s going to be a long day… You love that competition. When you’re going up against him, you gotta buckle in for that day.”
Young was already a productive pass rusher during his first two seasons with the Rams totaling 15.5 sacks, 123 combined tackles, and 32 QB hits. Going into Year 3, he wanted to take his game to the next level improving his bend and stability during the offseason. That work proved to pay off.
“My mindset then was just to be relentless, to keep going,” Young said, via TheRams.com. “I knew like those type of plays, hustle plays, (are) plays that you just got to keep going. You got to keep the motor going regardless of (if) you get chipped, you get double-teamed.”
It was the jump the Rams needed to see from Young at the perfect time. That confidence in Young made the Rams comfortable trading away former first-round pick Jared Verse in a deal to land Myles Garrett. Who can help Young take his game to a whole new level.
Byron Young and Myles Garrett could finish the 2026 season as the NFL’s top edge rushing duo
Young and Verse formed a solid pass rushing duo together with the Rams and the two really blossomed together during the 2025 season. Now, Young will be attacking the quarterback opposite the reigning Defensive Player of the Year that just broke the NFL’s single-season sack record.
Verse offered some insight on what Garrett should expect from his new partner in crime.
“B.Y., I think it’s his speed. I mean, he’s just fast off the edge,” Verse explained. “He’s real aggressive. He can really get after the ball. He’s relentless, so like, even if you think you can outrun him – try to run a play-action or something like that – he’s chasing you down. It’s the speed, that’s probably his most lethal thing.”
That speed on one side of the defensive front with Garrett on the other side, who’s average get-off of 0.70 led all qualified defensive linemen, is going to be a frightening duo for opposing quarterbacks to face. And you can’t double team both of those guys.
By the end of the 2026 season, Young and Garrett are poised to easily be viewed as the top edge rushing duo in the entire league.