Most Concerning Question Mark Ravens Face With Rookie Zion Young

The Ravens have taken on some, shall we say, different or unique or challenging personalities in the past, and enjoyed a fair amount of success with it.

Of course, much of that was under John Harbaugh, a grizzled head coach who bristled at some of the more outsized personalities on the roster he inherited from Brian Billick, before learning to adjust and adapt. Ravens rookie head coach Jesse Minter and his young staff have a lot to learn on the job, but is also well steeped in the Ravens ways from his prior stints here, and some of that showed in the selection of the first defensive player in his first draft.

Zion Young didn’t go in the first round for several reasons. He isn’t a polished pass rusher and blossomed late in that regard with 6.5 sacks last season. His maturity/character was also in question. His actions in a brawl between Michigan State and Michigan led to a suspension (of course, Minter coached at Michigan and has unique ties to that school) before transferring from the Spartans to Missouri. And his demeanor and outward personality weren’t for everyone.

That fire and passion might carry him well in his NFL career, but also might create potential flags that need to be monitored. Can he control his emotions playing with and against the best of the best on the planet? Does his motor burn too hot? Will his mouth get him in trouble, with officials or opposing players?

“With his physical traits, he could’ve been a first-round pick,” longtime former NFL general manager Marty Hurney told me recently on “The Daily Flock” draft recap show. “It was just the off-field questions that people had that the Ravens must’ve felt very good about that they saw Zion Young as really the last of that group of edge rushers, and they decided to do that because they liked guys later (at tight end and receiver) and they showed that with their later picks.”

Did Things Get Animated in Some Pre-Draft Interviews?

In addition to seeing how much bend and flexibility and natural pass rush Young can cultivate, or the Ravens can not cultivate in him, there were some characteristics that didn’t sit well with some who interacted with Young in the pre-draft process.

For instance, one top exec with a team that was considering Young on the second day of the draft said: “This kid, he’s a little bit of … let’s just him a loose cannon, now. There is some (stuff) with him, and his mentality, that you have to keep your eye on. We heard he was yelling and screaming in some of the interviews. He had some bad interactions with teams that were not for everyone … I see him as more of an early-down guy than a pass rusher. I can see why they liked him. He’s a very physical player. You just have to keep an eye on him flying off the handle.”

I pressed one general manager who was also considering Young and didn’t mind him where the Ravens took him (45th overall), about how the prospect rubbed him and his scouting staff: “Let’s just say that he was very brash in the meeting. Nothing crazy, but he just dropped a lot of cuss words and got a little worked up.”

Another GM who was aware of Young but didn’t spend as much time with him said: “We had an alert on him for character after the Michigan State fight. He wasn’t really going to be a fit for us, so I didn’t really look into it that much. We liked him as an early-down edge.”

Some teams clearly were more inclined to select Young than others and pushed him on his role in the melee between Michigan State and Michigan. A peek at social media and you can see that Young likes to amp himself up (even at a coin flip!) and get his teammates fired and I’m all for it. Colorful language, I’m all for.

Whether he can marry any pass rush with his anchor, something the Ravens haven’t been able to find in their day two picks going back to 2019, and whether he can keep those emotions in check being tested in ways he never was before is what will determine if this pick ends up looking like a reach. We already know this selection took the Ravens out of fertile starting tight end and center runs.

How quickly Young adapts to the NFL on and off the field will help determine whether or not it was the right choice.

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