Zion Young doesn't sound like a rookie who's worried about the jump to the NFL. After his preseason debut against the Eagles on Saturday, he talked about the experience with the same even-keeled confidence that made him one of the Ravens' most talked-about draft picks back in April.
"It felt really good. First one. I am not where I want to be, but it felt really good. It was fun, very fun," Young said. Asked what actually surprised him about playing in a real NFL game for the first time, he didn't point to speed in the way most rookies do. "It is not as fast as college, but when the ball snaps, it is fast. So, it is not as fast, tempo-wise, but when the ball snaps, it is fast. So, that is the biggest takeaway. You have to be ready."
That's the same evaluation the Ravens made about Young himself back in April, when Baltimore took the Missouri edge rusher with the 45th overall pick in the second round. At 6-foot-5 and 262 pounds with 33-inch arms, Young built his college resume on exactly the trait his debut showcased — snap-to-snap violence rather than pure speed. He began his career at Michigan State before transferring to Missouri, where his production spiked as a senior: 16.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2025 alone, part of a four-year total of 11.5 sacks and three forced fumbles that earned him First-Team All-SEC honors and a captaincy in Columbia.
Head coach Jesse Minter put it in blunter terms the night Baltimore drafted him. "He plays extremely hard and plays extremely physical," Minter said. "He's very powerful in the run game, meaning, when he strikes blocks, they go the other way. When people pull on him and he strikes him, it's a train wreck."
Outside linebackers coach Harland Bower has echoed that assessment through camp, saying simply, "the way he plays down-in and down-out is unbelievable."
General manager Eric DeCosta was just as direct about how much the front office valued him. "It was agony in the second round because good players were flying off the board," DeCosta said on the team's in-house podcast, The Lounge. "He has great physicality, can stuff the run, and has pass-rush upside. His energy and motor are infectious. He runs to the football with violence and passion." DeCosta has also said the team viewed Young as a "first-round type of player" who fell further than his talent warranted.
Part of that fall traced back to off-field questions from his college career — a suspension tied to a postgame altercation as a freshman at Michigan State, and a DWI arrest at Missouri in December 2025 that was still pending at the time of the draft. DeCosta addressed it directly rather than dodge it, saying the Ravens do thorough background work and are "comfortable" with what they found.
It's also worth noting that none of it stopped Missouri's own locker room from voting Young a team captain the following season, something Young said carries real weight for him. "It meant a lot, especially when my team voted for me. It says a lot about how my team viewed me," he said. "I come from a big family, usually with my dad and my oldest brother being the leader of my team back at home, so it feels really good. At the end of the day, I have to lead by example."
One of the most-told stories of Young's draft weekend had nothing to do with his tape. Baltimore already had a Zion Young connection on the roster in cornerback Nate Wiggins, who grew up playing with Young in Atlanta long before either reached college. They are childhood friends and were teammates at Westlake High School. "Nate Wiggins, that's my brother, man. I've been playing him way before high school," Young said on his introductory call with reporters. "That's been my boy, almost like my best friend."
The two have leaned on that relationship early in camp — Wiggins, Young said, has mostly used it to keep him accountable for the small stuff. "The main thing, he has just been holding me accountable. The small stuff, just me leaving stuff around my locker, he is holding me accountable." Wiggins isn't the only star name Young has found himself around. Asked which teammates still catch him off guard athletically, he rattled off a list that included Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and Zay Flowers. "I am blessed to be around those type of caliber guys, for sure."
Young's personality has been as much a part of his introduction to Baltimore as his tape. He's the youngest of 11 siblings, a background he credits for his competitiveness. "Hell raiser" has sat in his social media bio since 11th grade, a label he's embraced rather than downplayed. "I raise hell, especially on the field," he said. "Words are an understatement for sure."
That same energy has occasionally needed reining in during camp — Minter has had to dial Young back on non-padded practice days because of how eager he is once the pads go on. Young didn't dispute it. "The main thing is just having fun. I am doing something I love," he said. "You go to the NFL, you are amped up the first and second day. So I'm just flying around having fun."
On the field, Young steps into a Ravens defense that badly needed what he offers. Baltimore ranked 28th in pass-rush win rate in 2025 and allowed the second-most passing yards in the league, with no edge defender reaching even 40 pressures or five sacks all season. Young joins a retooled group that now includes veteran Trey Hendrickson alongside Mike Green and Tavius Robinson, giving Baltimore a rotation built around exactly the kind of power-based, relentless-motor identity Young brings.
Young has said he's leaning on Hendrickson specifically as he adjusts to the league. "I'm a big-time fan of Trey Hendrickson. I feel like with him as a vet, I'm very much so excited to learn from him," Young said. "I'm coming in as a young guy, so I'm coming in as a sponge."
The technical adjustment has been more about structure than physicality. Young said the biggest difference between his college alignment and Baltimore's defense has been learning to play more often over center rather than off-set, and simply understanding where he fits inside a full NFL scheme. "In college, it is a lot of offset back, and here is a lot of under center. So it is my alignment, for the most part — knowing who is beside me, and the reason, the whole situation, my whole defense. I'm just understanding that."
Young's identity was on full display in his NFL debut. Asked about a hustle play where he got knocked down, popped back up, and still ran down a ballcarrier short of the first down, Young didn't hesitate connecting it to what Baltimore expects from him. "A thousand percent. That is just a part of being a Raven, playing like a Raven — fast, physical and violent football."
He was also honest about how much work is still ahead. "I need to go back to the drawing board with everything: my pass rush, my run game, my run defense, everything," Young said. "This is another opportunity to get better. Football breeds football, so there is nothing like getting 1% better every day. So, this is just another chance to get 1% better." For a player Baltimore views as a long-term building block up front, that's exactly the mindset the franchise was betting on when it stuck to its board in April.