Intriguing position battles for LA Rams in 2024 will shock some fans

IV: Kicker battle

As soon as the LA Rams selected Stanford placekicker Joshua Karty with the 209th overall pick in Round 6 of the 2024 NFL Draft, the conclusion of many is that this team has their starting kicker. While there is plenty of evidence to suggest that may be how it all plays out, let's not put the cart before the horse this time around.

In 2023, the LA Rams signed NC State kicker Christopher Dunn and Oklahoma St kicker Tanner Brown to the roster after the 2023 NFL Draft. Despite being undrafted, both kickers were highly regarded, and considered to fall among the Top-5 kickers of their rookie class. While Dunn was released pretty quickly, Brown competed for the team throughout training camp, finally being released after a disappointing third preseason game

Of course, we know how the 2023 NFL season turned out.

The truth of the matter is that Stanford kicker Joshua Karty has been described as one of the best placekicker prospects in the last five to ten years. That's a pretty lofty claim for a guy who was drafted in Round 6 of the 2024 NFL Draft. Keep in mind that Karty's draft profile ranked him as a far more promising kicker than San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody. The Rams invested a Round 6 pick into Karty. The 49ers invested the 99th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft for Moody.

But Joshua Karty must win the kicker competition over returning kicker Tanner Brown, and it won't be easy.

There are some positions where second-year players simply perform much better than rookies. Outside linebacker is one such position. Placekicker is another such position. While Tanner Brown did not win and retain the starting kicker role for the team in 2023, he is back and has the advantage of an entire 2023 Rams training camp under his belt.

This will not be a slam-dunk for Joshua Karty at all.