Post season forecast for LA Rams ILB Kenny Young: Hold him or fold him?

The LA Rams acquired former Ravens ILB Kenny Young and a fifth-round draft in the exchange that sent cornerback Marcus Peters to the Baltimore Ravens back in 2019. Young was a young, promising, and punishing tackler for the Ravens, so the hope was that he would translate that same ferocity to the LA Rams defense.

When I was a little kid, there was this television commercial for a toy we all wanted Santa to bring – the Rock’Em – Sock ‘Em Robots. It was such a simple concept  – two plastic boxers, a red one and a blue one in a squared plastic ring. The cool thing I recall about the ad was when the red plastic boxer jaw-punched the blue plastic boxer’s head and it jacked up like it was attached to an upright car-jack stand. Remember that?

Well, I bring this up because there was a truly memorable hit, in early 2019 which is totally etched in my brain – when then-Baltimore Raven ILB turned LA Rams ILB Kenny Young sacked Jacksonville Jaguar QB Gardner Minshew so hard in the pocket his helmet flew off and his head jacked up. . . just like that old Rock’Em’ Sock ‘Em tv commercial. I could feel The Moustache’s neck vertebrae racing to the top of the jack stand.

That hit firmly cemented Kenny Young in my mind as one of my favorite NFL players. IMO, it was defensive play-of-the-year material,

And so when the news broke in October 2019 he’d been traded to the LA Rams as part of the Marcus Peters trade, I was truly excited to see him wearing the blue and gold. It was easy to imagine Young delivering similar hits to NFC West QB’s just like the time he made that QB’s mustache fall off.

Now, a year and then some later removed from that blockbuster trade, I suspect most Rams fans would agree the Ravens got the better end of that deal.

And yet, there have been moments, flashes perhaps, that remind me why the Rams made the trade for Young in the first place.  Perhaps no flash shines brighter than Week 14 of the 2020 season versus the New England Patriots. Young not only led the team with eight tackles in that game but he Rock-‘Em-Sock-Em sacked Cam Newton and later intercepts him for a 79-yard pick-six, putting an exclamation point on the Rams 24-3 win.

This is a break-out city for Number 41, I thought.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a consistent sort of break-out, now has it? The big plays have been sporadic. You might even say few and far between. What gives?

Well, his 2020 stat line kinda bears that paucity out: 52 tackles with 31 solos and 21 assists, one interception, one quarterback sack, two passes defended, one fumble recovery. And in the Divisional Round playoff game against Green Bay: four tackles total with two solo and two assists, and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ precision-dart passes carving up the middle of the field at will.

Another metric underlining inconsistent play – Pro Football Focus gave him a 41.6 overall grade in 2020. That is a steep decline from his first two seasons, where he graded in the low 50’s.

It was always unfair and unreasonable to expect Young to replace the on-field contributions of the departed Corey Littleton, arguably one of the best pass-defending linebackers in the NFL. (although he has struggled a bit, too in his new home with the Las Vegas Raiders).

Perhaps is it indeed true that the NFL has simply devalued the role of inside linebackers? Some say the Rams have devalued the position themselves, not placing a particular priority on addressing the need through either free agency or the draft. And Young’s playing time has been curtailed because the Rams tend to play sub-packages with only one middle linebacker on the field. It doesn’t necessarily seem to play to the strengths of the rangy, off-ball linebacker Young.

In the Rams’ 3-4 defense, the object is obviously to camouflage where the fourth rusher might be coming from. Confuse that signal-caller on the other side of the ball. It helps to have three large defensive linemen who require constant double teams to accomplish this.

The Rams certainly check that box. Perhaps no other player in the game can hold his ground and occupy several offensive blockers in order to allow the linebackers to make plays quite as well as Aaron Donald, eh? He does more than occupy. He knocks them down like bowling pins.

So, no excuses.

In Young’s defense, he did battle a bit of a knee injury after the NY Giants game, and may not have been 100% for parts of the season, but then, 16 games exact a physical toll on every player. Although he never landed on injured reserve, he nevertheless did not seem to see a lot of playing time this year, often finding himself pulled from the field when the Rams went to nickel or dime substitution packages.

Is he truly well- suited for the style of 3-4 defense the Rams play? Can we please get more Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em moments next year? Rams fans all hope so!