LA Rams can look to LB Kenny Young as 2020 starter

LA Rams LB Kenny Young arrived in the deal sending CB Peters to Baltimore Ravens. He could start in new DC Brandon Staley’s 2020 defense

What are the LA Rams‘ plans for linebacker Kenny Young?  Many of my Baltimore Ravens associates were disappointed at trading him away. And he was the one player that the Rams insisted upon including in the series of trades in 2019. Trades that sent cornerback Aqib Talib and a draft pick to Miami Dolphins as a salary dump.  Trades that sent cornerback Marcus Peters to the Baltimore Ravens for a draft pick. And trades which landed disgruntled cornerback Jalen Ramsey from the Jacksonville Jaguars. So far, the Rams have kept those future plans for Young very close to the vest.

The LA Rams are holding all their 2020 personnel cards close to the vest. Perhaps that’s wise because their $23.3 million won’t go far in free agency. As the 2020 NFL Free Agency dates come closer and closer, I haven’t seen much from the LA Rams general manager Les Snead.  I was hoping that he would somehow atone for the sins of signing horrible contracts with QB Jared Goff, WR Brandin Cooks, or RB Todd Gurley.  Huge increases in pay, which had the opposite effect upon them in a huge decline in production, and no escape clauses.

Ugh.  But one of the bright spots of the 2019 season on the personnel front was the easily-overlooked acquisition of Baltimore Ravens special teams inside linebacker Kenny Young as part of the Rams compensation for dealing cornerback Marcus Peters. A bright spot who could ascend as one of the bright stars of the team’s 2020 defense under new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.

Big hopes out of a little known player added to even out a trade from 2019. But where he didn’t seem to fit the Rams defensive rotation in 2019, that all changes in 2020. Or will he?

Young rising star

Kenny Young seemed to disappear on the Rams roster upon arrival.  After all, the team was fighting through injuries on the offensive line, and the defense played through 2019 relatively unscathed. So the team was set at linebacker, with starting linebackers OLB Dante Fowler Jr, ILB Cory Littleton, ILB Bryce Hager, and OLB Clay Matthews.  A stable linebacking corps of 2019, but approaching the crest of 2020 now, where there are many empty seats.  Of that group, only Matthews is returning.

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The Rams still have potential starters already in place for 2020. The team will welcome back linebacker Micah Kiser from his 2019 injury. Now third-year veteran Kiser was well on his way to a starting role in 2019  as an interior linebacker before falling to injury.

Fourth-year veteran outside linebacker Samson Ebukam will be looking for a larger role.  Two 2019 undrafted linebackers in  Troy Reeder and Natrez Patrick are ready for more playing time.  All told, the Rams have young talented players on defense.

However else you may see it,  the 2020 wildcard for the LA Rams is clearly Young.  He was projected as a late-round prospect. Some even described him as an undrafted free agent prospect.  But the Baltimore Ravens would have none of that and selected the 6-foot-1 236-pound inside linebacker in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Young was the type of player who had great game film but didn’t perform well at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.

Young was a hybrid defender before it became popular

As other teams drafted track stars, the Ravens quietly selected a fierce football player. He played in 16 games for the Ravens as a rookie, starting in three. And in 2019, he played in five games and started in three.  The young man some scouts claimed never belonged in the NFL, had already started six games for the Baltimore Ravens.

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Young was undervalued in the 2018 NFL Draft because he was a bit of a hybrid defender.  He was too big and slow to be a cornerback. He was too slow and muscular to be a safety. And he was judged to be too small and light to be an effective NFL linebacker. So many teams had no clue how to grade him, to project him onto the NFL.  Lucky for him, the Baltimore Ravens knew just how to use him.

Now, the LA Rams have a chance to do so.

Young is a fireball of passion on defense. He hits hard and often.  But he is not reckless in dolling out punishment. In fact, he is a controlled force of emotion, absorbing the crowd passion and converting it into football play. He can slide into pass coverage with tight ends and running backs, almost at the level of a slot cornerback. He can play in the box more effectively than safety but does not surrender as much in pass coverage as a linebacker. He is better than a suitable successor to Cory Littleton at inside linebacker. In fact, over a couple of years, he may outperform his predecessor.

Young start for an LA Rams linebacker

While Kenny Young had plenty of chances at linebacker with the Ravens, he was mysteriously demoted to special teams only with the Rams. Of course, circumstances have changed significantly for the LA Rams, particularly on defense.

Where the 2019 team had almost no time for new arrivals at linebacker, the Rams are looking at open tryouts for the role in 2020. The Rams can’t afford the top tier salaries that either Fowler nor Littleton will command in free agency. And they cannot afford to bring back free-agent linebacker Bryce Hager to keep the seat warm. The Rams are desperate for someone to step up for the team at linebacker in 2020.

And Kenny Young will do exactly that.

Young started three games for the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 as a rookie, filling in for the injured C.J. Mosley. He responded by playing stellar defense against both the run and the pass. In 2018, he recorded 2.5 sacks, 51 tackles, allowed just 62.5 percent of the passes thrown at him to be completed, and played just 36 percent of the defensive snaps.

The LA Rams love to give chances. They have one of the most successful track records of any NFL team on coaching up undrafted free agents to the 53-man roster. But Young is a talented linebacker who has proven the right mettle to start in the NFL. Now, he’ll have the chance to do so for the Los Angeles Rams.