An underrated defensive lineman for Alabama football is in this NFL Draft class.
Byron Young, a native Mississippian, came to the Crimson Tide’s 2019 signing class with DJ Dale and Justin Eboigbe.
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Young became the most productive of the three in his tenure. He had a good season in 2021 — helping the Tide to a Southeastern Conference Championship and an appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game — but last season produced strong numbers for him. Young collected 48 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, six quarterback hurries, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble in 13 games. He played a role in getting Alabama to 11 wins, including a 45-20 victory in the Allstate Sugar Bowl over Kansas State. Young earned first-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press and second-team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Association. He sees the defensive tackle position as an overlooked spot in this draft; however, Young is prepared to prove people wrong. In an interview with Good Morning Football, he shared one of the best moments in his career as an Alabama player. The moment includes head coach Nick Saban and a pregame meal routine.
. @AlabamaFTBL DT Byron Young wakes up with GMFB to walk us through his favorite pregame meal, DTs being overlooked in this draft, then a quick break to shoot some hoops pic.twitter.com/5LDqFPxjzL
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) April 20, 2023
“I ate the same meal because we as a team ate the same meal,” Young said. “Every single week we would have steak, pasta, rolls, and things like that. We loaded up on carbs and protein before going out there and playing. I will probably try to eat that because it worked so well while I was here. I was able to play in all the games I played in and felt good. I will probably try to keep something like that, but that was more so of the team and Coach Saban making everybody eat the same thing.”
He found it funny that Saban would have players eating the same thing, but Young is not one to complain about eating steak once to twice a week. Saban wanted his players to have the good things in life, and it included food.
It will be interesting to see which team takes Young next week in the draft.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
