https://theathletic.com/4441665/2023/04/28/los-angeles-rams-draft-picks-predictions-fits-scouting/

The Los Angeles Rams enter the 2023 NFL Draft on April 27 with 11 picks over the three-day draft.

With their first pick, the Rams added guard Steve Avila out of TCU. After trading back twice and collecting a couple more picks, the Rams then added edge Byron Young from Tennessee with the 77th pick in the third round.

Keep coming back here throughout the draft for analysis and grades for each Rams pick.

Round 2

No. 36: Steve Avila, G, TCU

How he fits

One of the select few interior linemen I had in the top 50 this draft, Steve Avila has the play strength and positional versatility to bolster an offensive line that was porous in pass protection and struggled to create lanes in the running game. Avila’s 330 pounds gives him a great anchor, and he’s  got enough explosive potential and speed to execute in Sean McVay’s outside zone scheme. The Rams have plenty to retool this draft, and this was a smart pick in the early 30s. — Diante Lee

Dane Brugler’s analysis

A wide-based and powerful blocker, Avila collects a body count with his heavy hands to make early contact in pass pro or drive block in the run game. Though he stays controlled in his initial mirror, his countering footwork and hand work will be the keys to his next-level success. Overall, Avila needs to better understand his biomechanics to access his explosive power, but he plays with a strong base to anchor and control at either guard or center. He fits both zone and gap schemes and should be an immediate starter as an NFL rookie.

Round 3

No. 77: Byron Young, edge, Tennessee

How he fits

A 250-pound edge with 4.4 speed and terrific explosion, Young — who was out of football in 2018 before coming back to play at Georgia Military before winding up at Tennessee — is all gas off the line of scrimmage and can be a serious problem for slow-footed or stiff tackles. He plays with good instinct as a pass rusher and doesn’t get lost or run himself out of much. You’re not getting much vs. the run with him, he’s a pass rush specialist — and he could be longer. But that speed is no joke. — Nick Baumgardner

Dane Brugler’s analysis

Young is an explosive, hard charger and at his best on T/E stunts because of the balance and quickness to stay on his rush path. However, he is undersized and his role will be limited at the next level because of his deficiencies in closed areas. Overall, Young can be engulfed in the run game, and his rush stalls too quickly at contact, but his energy and pass-rush flashes lead to backfield plays. Though he has limitations in the run game, he has the potential to make a living as a glorified sub-rusher in the NFL.

How he fits

Bit of a defensive line tweener, but also a powerhouse at 6-2, 293 with very good agility and active hands. He isn’t very long, but he’s in the backfield a lot — 43 1/2 tackles for loss and 18 sacks during his college career. Turner started at Richmond and transferred to Wake Forest for his final year and he’s not a refined pass rusher, but he’s a big-time competitor who can knock stuff around inside right now for the Rams. — Nick Baumgardner

Dane Brugler’s analysis

Turner is a tad undersized and is guilty of freelancing out of his run fits, but he plays with bouncy feet, forceful hands and affects the game with his relentless effort. He projects as a rotational three-technique in the NFL with potential to be more.

New Rams edge Byron Young, who was selected at pick No. 77 on Friday night, has had quite the journey.

He went from no-star recruit who didn’t have the grades to attend a Division I school, to postgraduate school to get his grades together, to assistant manager at Dollar General where he saw a flier for tryouts at Georgia Military College in the spring of 2019. From there, Young (who also lost the 2020 season because of the pandemic), got his tape to junior colleges and eventually became the No. 1 ranked juco edge rusher in the 2021 recruiting class. He graduated with his associate’s degree in November and signed with Tennessee in December.

“Props to him, for the journey he’s been on,” Johnson said. “When you turn the tape on, he stands out (from) the explosiveness that he shows and being able to get off the ball and generate pressures just from a speed aspect of it.”

Senior personnel executive Brian Xanders noted that Young had 80 sacks, hits and pressures total over his unique career.

“Everybody (on our staff) has done two years of tape on him, and he just shows this explosiveness, the power, speed, the closing acceleration,” Xanders said. “He’s an explosive, big, powerful edge rusher that is disruptive and tough.”

Xanders noted that in the Rams’ internal analytics profiling system, Young tested in the top 10 percent of the edge rushers they evaluated in this class.

Young ranked No. 116 on Dane Brugler’s list of Top 300 prospects and was his No. 17 overall edge prospect in this year’s draft class.

How he fits

Young adds a lot of speed and rushing power to a really young, inexperienced outside linebacker rotation currently in Los Angeles. His versatility as a pass rusher will mean defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio will expect to move him in a variety of different packages, on a variety of downs. Brugler noted that Young needs to improve his ability against the run, and after just a short time in Division I football it’s understandable that Young is a work in progress here. He and Coniglio discussed his development in this phase in their pre-draft Zoom call earlier this month.

Young noted Friday that he loves his “ghost” pass-rush move, which he models after future Hall of Fame outside linebacker Von Miller (who won a Super Bowl with the Rams).

Rookie impact

The Rams’ defense is extremely thin and there will be a competition at nearly every position on the roster. Young has the opportunity to work in a rotation with Michael Hoecht (another player who is an intriguing blend of speed and power) and Daniel Hardy (a smaller speed rusher). Of course, it’s never terrible to have Aaron Donald in the middle. Young will also have a shot on special teams, because his 4.43-second 40-yard dash is an eye-popping addition to their coverage units.

The Rams lacked diversity and in turn, effectiveness in their pass-rusher combinations in 2022, and Morris had to dig deeper into the bag of blitzes and pressures from defensive backfield players and linebackers, which left the middle of the field under their match-zone vulnerable to the quick-game. Teams got the ball out at record rates against the Rams last season. Picking Young, who blends a versatile package of rush techniques with his speed, seems to be a direct counter to that.

Fast evaluation

Young has proven over his journey that he is relentless. The Rams drafted him with high expectations that his current techniques and extraordinary athletic ability will translate within their scheme and coaching into a special player. They also filled a big need at this pick.