Seahawks Draft Cameron Young, Add Toughness & Versatility to D-Line

Tackling their most pressing need from a depth perspective, the Seattle Seahawks added a blue collar worker to the mix by drafting Mississippi State's Cameron Young, who lands in a perfect landing spot for potential early playing time at the nose spot.

Reinforcing their defensive line with much-needed depth, the Seattle Seahawks finally shored up the interior by drafting Mississippi State defensive tackle Cameron Young with the 123rd overall pick in the fourth round.

After ranking a dreadful 31st overall defending the run last season, Young's arrival will be a welcome sight for the Seahawks. Capable of playing nose tackle as well as 3-tech and 5-tech alignments, the 304-pound defender brings an old school junk yard dog mentality with him to the field, playing with great physicality and heavy, thumping hands at the line of scrimmage to hold his own in the trenches against the best of the best in the SEC.

Possessing quality length for his size with 34 1/2-inch arms, Young uses that reach effectively to create push at the point of attack and disengage to make tackles in the run game. Once he gets his hands on ball carriers, he rarely fails to finish the job, missing only two tackles his entire senior season.

While built with a muscular, thick frame, Young likely doesn't project to be a typical 3-4 nose tackle two-gapping head up on the center in Seattle. When reduced inside, he's at his best shading the A gap where he can penetrate and use his quickness to disrupt plays, while he may not have enough of an anchor to hold up against double teams in the middle of an odd front.

With only one sack to his name at Mississippi State, Young also enters the league as an unrefined pass rusher with limited production to this point. He can occasionally collapse the pocket with power, but he doesn't currently have a consistent go-to counter move to turn to off his initial rush and remains raw in regard to developing a rush plan and using his hands effectively to shed when locked in a stalemate.

Following the release of Al Woods and Shelby Harris, Young currently is the only healthy nose tackle on Seattle's roster, presenting a great chance for him to secure consistent playing time out of the gate. With him being on the smaller side for an NFL nose, it will be interesting to see how the team utilizes him from a schematic standpoint, as his selection could hint at a return to more "under" fronts that would take him out of playing many snaps over center.

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