Byron Young is ditching rookie mistake by making Myles Garrett his Rams mentor

Byron Young joined the Los Angeles Rams in 2023 as a third-round pick out of Tennessee. His rookie year was also Aaron Donald's final season, before the franchise legend hung his cleats - for now.   

Whether or not Donald unretires, Young shared how his rookie experience has driven his relationship with Myles Garrett as he enters Year 4:

"I think I was just young and didn't understand the opportunities I had to get [Donald] to open up and help my game until he left. So now, I'm not going to make that same mistake with Myles Garrett. I pick his brain all the time." 

In fact, it might be even more helpful to take insights from Garrett given that both he and Young are edge rushers by trade, although in Cleveland Garrett was strictly a defensive end whereas the Rams will have both him and Young line up as outside linebackers. On the cusp of a contract year, Young isn't about to let this chance pass him by. 

Young seizing chance to learn from Garrett like he failed to do with Donald

Young may get to double up, of course, if Donald indeed returns, which would be the ideal scenario for just about everyone in the organization (well, almost everyone). Even as a defensive tackle, as opposed to coming off the edge, Donald has a wealth of tips and tricks any young player could benefit from.

Young has, to his credit, done just fine in his own right. Last season he led the Rams in sacks, with 12, and made his first Pro Bowl. He also racked up 82 tackles, more than any other player with at least seven sacks, and registered 29 quarterback hits, per Pro Football Reference. He was PFF's ninth-ranked edge defender out of 115 qualified players with an 84.9 overall grade.

Even coming off a career year, Young is looking to maximize his 2026 campaign. Opportunities like the one he has, sharing a practice field with the generation's greatest edge rusher and perhaps the best of all time, don't come by often. Young is using his youthful oversight to make sure he capitalizes on the company of a veteran mentor.

Perhaps it's also easier, in a way, to approach Garrett, who for all his league-wide reverence is still a newcomer in Los Angeles. Donald, on the other hand, had seen and done it all when Young arrived in the Future Hall of Famer's age-32 season, his 10th with the Rams. 

Of course, it's not like Garrett is wet behind the ears. Although judging by appearances he seems to be aging in reverse, he has somehow already spent nine years in the league. He will begin the season just two years younger than Donald in 2023, at age 30. 

But Young, 28, is older too now. He has reached Pro Bowl standing of his own. No one would call him Garrett's equal, but maybe it is easier to relate as peers than as a rookie staring up at a franchise icon who will someday have a plaque in Canton, Ohio (for that matter, of course, so will Garrett).

Or maybe none of that matters much. Young is more mature and learning from his past mistakes. For Rams fans, it's just one more reason to be absolutely stoked for what 2026 will bring.

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