12/12/2023 football Edit

VFLs in the NFL: Byron Young takes lead for most sacks by a 2023 rookie

Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young (0) takes the field before an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Ryan Sylvia • VolReport

Assistant Managing Editor

Born in Knoxville, Tenn. and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Covering football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and recruiting for VolReport.

The college season is nearing bowl play and the NFL regular season is coming down to the final weeks.

As teams make a final playoff push, multiple former Tennessee players are playing big roles.

Here are the biggest storylines from this week.

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Byron Young continues to impress

In the Rams' overtime loss to the Ravens, rookie edge rusher Byron Young had another solid game.

He totaled just two tackles but one was for a big sack.

This sack pushes him to six on the season. This mark is good for the most out of any rookie in the 2023 class. He is half a sack ahead of his teammate Kobie Turner out of Wake Forest for the lead.

The record for sacks in a rookie season is 14.5 from Jevon Kearse. While this is almost certainly unattainable, he is in position to hold the record for this season and climb up the all-time leaderboards.

Rookie receivers reels in two passes

During the Browns' narrow win over the Jaguars, rookie Cedric Tillman got involved. After a quiet start to his career, he was targeted four times while catching two passes for 23 yards.

For the Giants, its win over the Packers also featured a rookie Vol. Jalin Hyatt caught two passes, as well, for a total of 13 yards.

While neither receiver is necessarily having the rookie year they imagined, it is good to see them getting snaps within the offense early in their career.

Dobbsanity comes to a close

One of the best storylines this year has been Josh Dobbs' rise as the Cardinals' and Vikings' quarterback. However, after a second week of poor play, it looks like Dobbs might've lost his job.

In Minnesota's 3-0 loss to the Raiders, Dobbs completed only 10-of-23 passes for 63 yards. He was sacked five times but managed to run for 21 yards.

While throwing a poor pass to injure star receiver Justin Jefferson and producing no points, the Vikings made the change to backup Nick Mullens who was responsible for the only scoring drive of the game.

Dobbs may get another chance but it looks like Minnesota is moving on down the stretch.

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