Do you expect this Rams star rookie to lead team in QB sacks in 2024?

Imagine the thrill of finding the most adept rookie in a talented class of 2023 who can lead the team, and the entire rookie class, late in Round 3 with the 89th overall pick? That is why the LA Rams are so excited to see what that shocking rookie can do in 2024.

But he faced so much pressure to produce. After all, the team could not swing and miss with him. Thankfully, the front office did not.

The LA Rams needed to find a Day 1 starter for their defensive line somewhere in the 2023 NFL Draft. The coffers were bare. Because the team pushed salary expenses into the future, the Rams were unable to make any contract offers to extend NT Greg Gaines or DE A'Shawn Robinson. That meant that the 2023 defensive linemen room would have some empty chairs as the team prepared for a new season. Even as the team turned to young players like Bobby Brown III and Jonah Williams to assume greater roles in 2024, the team needed more horses for the stable.

When the team selected Wake Forest nose tackle Kobie Turner with the 89th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the hope was to add a rotational player who could give his teammates a breather, and perhaps put some pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

The team discovered that Kobie Turner, a.k.a. The Conductor, planned to deliver so much more.

His first year in the NFL was mind-blowing for a nose tackle. Regardless of how he got there, did you believe he could match All-Pro DL Aaron Donald's rookie QB sack totals? (9.0 sacks in his first year). Now the question is, can he springboard from his impressive rookie season to lead the defense in QB sacks in 2024? After all, in comparison to Aaron Donald, can he put up 11.0 quarterback sacks in Year 2?

Why that many? Or why even more that that? In all likelihood, the number will need to be at least that many. WIth the Rams new defensive coordinator being Chris Shula, there is clearly a focus on pass rush in 2024. And with a greater emphasis, that means a greater level of competition. Not only will 'The Conductor' face stiff competition from veteran All-Pro DL Aaron Donald, but he will also be challenged by OLBs Byron Young and perhaps a returning Michael Hoecht, Nick Hampton, Ochaun Mathis, or even Zack VanValkenburg.

It will take at least 11.0+ to lead the team in quarterback sacks in 2024. The Rams have too many young rising stars on defense who can deliver quarterback pressure. In a rising tide ot defenders converging on opposing hurlers, can a nose tackle keep pace?

Can he lead the Rams in QB sacks in 2024?

1. Cons
2. Pros
3. Our verdict

Cons

The sack leaders in the NFL are not fooling around. In 2023, the Top 3 QB sack leaders averaged 18.0 QB sacks. In 2022, the Top 3 QB sack leaders averaged 17.0 QB sacks. The number of sacks needed to flirt with a Top-3 finish for Kobie Turner is realistically doubling his 2023 production.

While he could squeeze one or two more sacks out of playing with more experience, and he could get two or three more sacks out of playing a greater share of defensive snaps, that optimistically only reaches as high as 14 QB sacks.

Playing nose tackle in the NFL is a tough spot to stack up QB sacks from. The physicality and sheer force required to even make a tackle in any given play is so taxing that the toll on his body will begin to have an aggregate effect. Even if he sits out the preseason (he will), he faces at least 17 games (and perhaps as many as 21 games) in the upcoming year. Staying healthy all year long will be a bit more difficult after an incredibly positive NFL debut.

While The Conductor had an opportunity to surprise offenses in 2023, the element of surprise has vanished already. Turner is not only getting double-teamed at the line of scrimmage by the center and a guard, but if he breaks through, he is being greeted by a running back who chips at him as well. Teams are beginning to plan their offenses to account for Kobie Turner at all times.

It's tough to get the jump on a quarterback who is coached to know where he is at all times.

Even a hope to repeat as the team's sack leader is a bit much, isn't it?

Pros

For any lesser NFL player, that would prove to be the end of the discussion. But for Los Angeles Rams nose tackle Kobie Turner, that is where the conversation just begins to get quite interesting.

You don't end up as one of the 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year finalists by sneaking out from the shadow of a teammate, even if that guy is All-Pro DT Aaron Donald. Curiously, we discovered that rookie NT Kobie Turner was double-teamed more often than Donald in 2023. Getting double-teamed more often than Aaron Donald is a bit mind-blowing, as it was Turner who ended the season as the team's sack leader.

No wonder he ended the year as one of the NFL's DROY finalists.

There is so much more to this young man than only his quarterback sacks, He has power, speed, agility, and a nose for the football that very much resembles the play-making ability of Aaron Donald. No, he is not Aaron Donald yet, but he looks the part at time. Perhaps more impressive than his ability to tackle whoever has the football in his vicinity is the sheer fun and amusement he displays on the football field.

He has truly allowed the Rams defense to take it up a notch.

Like all rookies, Turner was getting introduced to offenses, offensive linemen, and offensive play designs for the first time in 2023. But in 2024, he will have a much better idea of what to expect, what did and did not work for him and his teammates, and will have a more robust arsenal of moves to use in rushing the quarterback. It's that rise in knowledge and experience that allows players to better even impressive rookie performances in Year 2.

Our verdict

Kobie Turner was a force to be reckoned with. But when he is off the field, he is humble and lucid, displaying a true appreciation for the opportunity to play a game he loves. It's that willingness to learn more that will carry him to heights in the NFL that few have or will attain. Check out the interview below:

Turner led all NFL rookies in quarterback sacks, but you wouldn't know it from what he says and how he reacts. He is a full-fledged believer in former DL Coach Eric Henderson's DAWGWORK mantra. Take note of the way he states clearly that he believes in how daily deposits at training camp and practices allows great things to happen on game day.

Discipline, Attitude, Work-ethic, and Grit. Those are the four cornerstones to the #DAWGWORK mantra of the Rams defensive line. Clearly, Kobie Turner is on board. After all, it works for Aaron Donald, so why wouldn't Turner adopt the same fundamentals?

It was adherence to those principles that set the Rams defensive front among the leading groups in the NFL, and continues to do so. It makes sense too, as working now for rewards tomorrow is how many of us were taught and shown how to carve out our place in this world for our own futures.

In any other defense, I would say that he is a lock to lead the defense in sacks in 2023. But his is not any other defense. This is one that boasts rookie OLBs Michael Hoecht and Byron Young, and All Pro DL Aaron Donald. Still, he's led the team in 2023 under a more difficult set of circumstances. I believe that he has approximately a 50 percent chance of leading the Rams defense in quarterback sacks in 2024. But he will need to put up at least 11.0 sacks, and even that may not be enough.