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In 2023, the Raiders used the 70th overall pick in the NFL Draft to select Alabama DT Byron Young. The Rams scooped up a DE out of Tennessee with the same name seven picks later, and a theory that recently surfaced suggests he was the guy Las Vegas actually meant to get.
Tens of thousands of people have played in the NFL over the years, so it’s only natural some of them are going to end up having the same name; for example, there have been eight different guys named Mike Williams to play in the league at some point (a number that rises to 12 if you include the trio of Michaels).
We’ve also been treated to two iterations of the Josh Allen Bowl thanks to the Bills QB and the Jaguars DE who share that moniker, and in 2021, the Jets made NFL history when they drafted two players named Michael Carter (an RB from UNC and a DE from Duke) with back-to-back picks.
That brings us to the 2023 NFL Draft, where two guys named Byron Young had the chance to hear their name called.
Those hopes came true in fairly quick succession, as the Byron Young who played defensive tackle at Alabama was selected by the Raiders with the the 70th pick in the third round before the one who was a defensive end at Tennessee went to the Rams with the 77th.
The latter is in the midst of his second season in Los Angeles, while the former was cut by the Raiders prior to the start of the 2024 campaign after playing in just six games during his rookie year (he was claimed by the Eagles, and we could get a Byron Young Bowl on Sunday now that he’s been activated after recovering from a hamstring injury).
The Raiders obviously didn’t get what they were hoping when they selected Young, and earlier this week, ESPN Radio host Q Myers suggested part of the reason things didn’t work out was a draft blunder that led to Las Vegas selecting the former member of the Crimson Tide when they meant to pull the trigger on the man who played for the Vols.
Almost two years later, @YourboyQ254 still isn’t convinced the Raiders meant to draft Alabama DT Byron Young instead of Tennessee DE Byron Young, who the Rams took seven picks later 🤣🤣 https://t.co/5V0tvmL238 pic.twitter.com/Dt06P27yYB
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) January 14, 2025
It’s not that crazy when you consider the Young who went second was 38 spots above the one who went first on the scouting report ESPN released before the draft; they were separated by 30 on the one published by Daniel Jeremiah on the NFL’s website and 19 on PFF‘s.
With that said, there is one piece of evidence that casts doubt on the theory: the video documenting the phone call that Raiders GM Dave Ziegler placed to Young after they drafted him that makes it pretty clear he knew which of the two men he was talking two.
You could argue he was simply doing damage control to try to cover up the purported flub after realizing what happened, and while I’d really like to believe that’s the case, the simplest explanation is that the Raiders probably should have drafted the other Byron Young but made the wrong call in hindsight.