The Baltimore Ravens made one of the most intriguing picks of Day 2, selecting Missouri edge rusher Zion Young with the 45th overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday night. The pick puts an end to a mild slide for a prospect many analysts believed had first-round talent.
Zion Young drafted 45 overall to the Ravens pic.twitter.com/5pzwxDgvKm
— Grant Reacts (@GrantReacts1) April 25, 2026
Young is a 6-foot-5, 262-pound pass rusher from Atlanta, Georgia. He has a blue-collar reputation and a great resume from two programs. He played his first two years of college football at Michigan State, then moved to Missouri, where he became one of the SEC’s most disruptive defenders. Young had 16.5 tackles for loss in his last season with the Tigers, which was second in the SEC. He also had 53 total pressures, including eight sacks, 30 hurries, and 15 quarterback hits, which earned him first-team All-SEC honors.
For Baltimore, the fit makes a great deal of sense. The Ravens have long valued the edge rusher position and Young’s combination of power, hand technique, and run-stopping ability checks every box in head coach Jesse Minter and DC Anthony Weaver’s system.
The knock on Young heading into draft weekend was his stiffness in the hips and average cornering speed around the edge. But in Baltimore, a franchise that maximizes developmental talent better than nearly anyone in the league, those are fixable flaws. With their first two picks (guard Olaivavega Ioane at No. 14 and now Young at No. 45), the Ravens are building a physically dominant team from the trenches out.
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