Ranking Rams’ biggest NFL draft gems of the last decade

VI - He has a nose for the football

Any rookie who can announce his arrival to the NFL by tying the rookie quarterback sack total of DT Aaron Donald is going to make this list, and so we find ourselves talking about NT Kobie Turner. While you may dispute the presence of a rookie this high on the list, we have our reasons. Namely, he has roared out of the gates to become the most feared defender on that side of the football.

And he will only get better.

As good as OLB Byron Young was to this football team, Kobie Turner was just a bit better. After all, the guy played nose tackle for the Rams defense, perhaps the most physically demanding position to play on the football team. And to perform at that position as a rookie takes a special kind of player. That was not a problem for "The Conductor," a young man who loves playing the game of football with a passion.

The Rams were incredibly insightful in the 2023 NFL Draft. Despite the cries from fans to get more pass rush help (a legitimate observation, by the way), the team landed the top two pass rushing rookies from the rookie class of 2023. Byron Young recorded 8.0 quarterback sacks. Yet rookie nose tackle Kobie Turner put up 9.0 quarterback sacks. That tied the rookie mark of Aaron Donald, something that nobody expected.

Turner put up 57 tackles, 9.0 quarterback sacks, eight tackles for a loss, and 16 quarterback his in his first season. At 6-foot-2 and 288 pounds, Turner has the agility, power, and versatility to take over at lining up anywhere on the Rams defensive front. I believe that he will have an incredible year on the defense in 2024.