Former GMC JuCo players headed to NFL

Published 10:32 pm Monday, May 1, 2023

Over its 30-year history, the Georgia Military College junior college football program has been no stranger to having players advance to four-year schools. Some of those players even get to hear their names called during the NFL draft.

Add two more names to those ranks as defensive ends Byron Young (77th overall to the Los Angeles Rams) and YaYa Diaby (82nd overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) were both selected in the third round Friday night. They became the first draftees to have played at GMC since offensive lineman Dennis Daley was taken in the sixth round of the 2019 draft by the Carolina Panthers. As mid-third rounders, Young and Diaby are GMC’s highest-drafted products since defensive tackle Corvey Irvin went 93rd overall to the Panthers in ‘09. Linebacker Odell Thurman is thought to be the highest draft pick to have ever played at GMC, as he was taken 48th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in ‘05. 

Both Young and Diaby have taken unconventional routes to the NFL. Neither had much recruiting buzz coming out of high school, so into the workforce they went – Diaby at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta and Young as an assistant general manager at Dollar General in Columbus, Ga. They attended separate GMC prospect combines to earn their respective roster spots with the Bulldogs under then-head coach, the late Bert Williams.

“We just loved the way they ran and the numbers they put up,” current GMC head coach Rob Manchester recalled.

Both players were in Milledgeville for the 2019 season that saw GMC go 8-3. They were among the team leaders in tackles that year, Diaby leading the way with 58 while Young topped the team in sacks at seven. 

Upon leaving GMC, Young went on to the University of Tennessee in early 2021. The South Carolina native earned All-SEC honors in 2022, his final collegiate season, while accumulating 12 tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hurries playing for the Volunteers. 

Young was the second player the Rams selected this year, making him a pretty high priority for the LA franchise. In talking to LA media, he said the call from Rams GM Les Snead letting him know he was being drafted was a “dream come true.” 

“Honestly it’s still kind of new,” he said during the Zoom interview. “Everything’s going fast right now. I’m just so thankful.”

As a 6-2, 248-pound outside linebacker, Young will line up as part of a defensive front that includes Aaron Donald, who’s considered among the top players in the game today. 

Diaby, who arrived at the University of Louisville in 2020 after finishing up at GMC, started all 13 games for the Cardinals this past season and posted nine sacks on his way to a third team All-ACC selection. A native of Riverdale, Ga. outside of Atlanta, Diaby attended North Clayton High School. 

He was upbeat in his interview with Tampa Bay media after his name was called.

“I’m just a hungry individual,” Diaby said. “I’m willing to learn. I just love this game, and whatever it takes for me to be successful, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Joining the two defensive standouts in making it to the NFL is former GMC offensive lineman Trevor Reid, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent soon after the draft was completed Saturday. 

Coach Manchester was understandably proud of the trio in speaking to the newspaper Monday. 

“They’ve reached the pinnacle of football, and it’s gratifying to know we had a small part in that process,” Manchester said. “I’m just elated for them and excited for Georgia Military College.”

The two draftees and one undrafted signee bring the total number of players that have gone to the NFL from GMC to 54.