Tag: Kobie Turner

6 Rams to watch in Week 6 vs. Cardinals

Here are six players from the Rams to keep an eye on in Week 6 versus the Cardinals.

The Los Angeles Rams are set to host their second straight home game in Week 6 with their first matchup against the Arizona Cardinals this season. The Rams are coming off a 23-14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 in Cooper Kupp’s return to the field following a four-game absence because of a hamstring injury.

Entering Sunday’s showdown with the Cardinals, the Rams possess a 2-3 record, making this a must-win game against a 1-4 divisional opponent. The Cardinals lost 34-20 to the Cincinnati Bengals last week, but they continue to play competitively each week under new head coach Jonathan Gannon.

Ahead of a Week 6 matchup versus the Cardinals, here are six players from the Rams to keep tabs on.

6 Rams to watch in Week 5 vs. Eagles

Here are 6 players from the Rams to watch in their Week 5 matchup against the Eagles.

The Los Angeles Rams are set to host the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 at SoFi Stadium. The Rams are coming off a 29-23 overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4 after jumping out to a 23-0 lead in the contest.

Following the win against the Colts, the Rams improved to 2-2 on the season, with three of their first four games taking place on the road. As for the Eagles, they are among the two unbeaten teams remaining in the NFL (the other team is the San Francisco 49ers) after edging out the Washington Commanders 34-31 in overtime in Week 4.

Ahead of what could be described as another litmus test for the Rams, here are six players to watch in Sunday’s showdown versus the Eagles.

Rams’ rookie class is off to strong start in 2023, led by 4 standouts

The Rams asked a lot of their rookies this year, and they’ve gotten some great play out of 4 players, in particular

After a great start to the year in Week 1, the Los Angeles Rams have stumbled in their last two games. They couldn’t take down the powerhouse 49ers in Week 2 and on Monday night, the Bengals snuck out a 19-16 win over the Rams – a game Los Angeles had several chances to win.

As frustrating as their 1-2 start has been, there are bright spots on both sides of the ball on this young roster. The Rams’ rookie class, which was a near-record 14 players deep, has stepped up and contributed in a meaningful way.

On offense, Puka Nacua and Steve Avila have looked like future Pro Bowlers for Los Angeles. Nacua has 30 catches in his first three games, ranking second in the NFL behind only Keenan Allen. His 338 yards are the fourth-most and his 42 targets lead all players this season.

Avila had a little bit of a rough outing against the Bengals on Monday night, but he has a 56.2 grade this season and despite allowing nine total pressures, he’s been a positive addition to the offensive line thus far. It doesn’t help that both Alaric Jackson and Zach Thomas struggled badly next to him on Monday night, making his job even tougher on the interior.

He’s made a handful of blocks that no guard for the Rams would’ve made last year, including one against the Bengals on a screen to Kyren Williams where he ran about 15 yards to take a defender out of the play.

This two-level block by Avila on Williams’ touchdown last week was particularly good, too.

Defensively, the Rams have to be thrilled with their top two picks on that side of the ball: Byron Young and Kobie Turner. According to Pro Football Focus, Turner’s defensive grade of 76.9 ranks eighth among all rookies in the NFL this season, and Young ranks 10th with a grade of 74.7.

Young’s 13 total pressures through three games are the second-most of any rookie, ahead of No. 3 overall pick Will Anderson Jr., who has 11 pressures for the Texans. Young’s three sacks (based on PFF’s numbers) are the second-most among rookies, too, while Turner is tied for third in that category.

Young’s six pressures are the sixth-most overall among rookies and third for all rookie defensive tackles, behind only Jalen Carter and Bryan Bresee, two first-round picks.

On the Rams, only Aaron Donald has a higher overall grade on defense than Turner and Young. They’ve both had a significant impact defensively in their first three games and the most encouraging part? They seem to be getting better by the week. Young had five pressures against the Bengals and a career-best 85.8 grade, while Turner had three total pressures (career-high) and split a sack with Donald.

The Rams have a lot to clean up in the coming weeks, but they’ve got four rookies they can build around moving forward, and that has to excite both Sean McVay and Les Snead.

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Studs and duds from Rams’ 19-16 loss to Bengals

Here are our studs and duds from the Rams’ disappointing 19-16 loss to the Bengals in Week 3.

The Los Angeles Rams fell short in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals, losing the game 19-16. The Rams have now lost two games in a row after a double-digit win on the road against the Seattle Seahawks to begin the season.

In the loss to the Bengals on Monday night, the Rams made plenty of costly mistakes and converted only one of their 11 third downs. It was a forgettable game all around for Los Angeles and the team will need to regroup ahead of a road matchup against a surprising 2-1 Indianapolis Colts squad in Week 4.

With the Rams suffering another defeat, here are our studs and duds from Monday’s matchup with the Bengals.

Rams had 2 of the NFL’s highest-graded rookies in Week 2

Two Rams players were among the NFL’s highest-graded rookies in Week 2, and you can probably guess one of them

No team had a bigger 2023 rookie class than the Los Angeles Rams, who selected 14 players in the draft this year. All of them made the 53-man roster and a handful have already made a significant impact through two weeks.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Rams had two of the seven highest-graded rookies in the NFL in Week 2. Puka Nacua received a grade of 81.0, which ranked sixth among all rookies, and Kobie Turner was seventh with a grade of 79.5.

It’s been a promising start for the Rams’ rookie class this season and they desperately needed it. Los Angeles’ roster is made up of so many young players that in order for the Rams to contend, they needed many of their first- and second-year guys to step up.

In addition to Nacua and Turner, the Rams have gotten great play out of Steve Avila and Byron Young. Avila looks like a future Pro Bowler at left guard and Young’s athleticism is on full display as an edge rusher with eight pressures and two sacks through two games.

The star of the show has been Nacua, of course, with his league-leading 25 receptions and 266 yards, which ranks second behind only Justin Jefferson. The Rams have to be thrilled about what they’ve seen from their rookies thus far.

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6 Rams to watch in Week 1 vs. Seahawks

We take a look at six players from the Rams to watch in Sunday’s season opener against the Seahawks.

The Los Angeles Rams are set to kick off the 2023 season with a road matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The last time we saw these teams face each other was in Week 18 of the 2022 season, which ended with the Seahawks winning in overtime by a score of 19-16.

Entering this season, the Rams and the Seahawks have completely different expectations. The Seahawks will enter Sunday’s divisional showdown as nearly touchdown favorites, likely due to the Rams relying on a slew of inexperienced players on both sides of the ball.

Ahead of Sunday’s season opener versus the Seahawks, here are six players on the Rams to keep an eye on.

Sean McVay evaluates Byron Young and Kobie Turner, who the Rams ‘are counting on’

Sean McVay has high expectations for Byron Young and Kobie Turner this season

The Los Angeles Rams have very little choice but to rely heavily on their rookies and second-year players this season. They just don’t have the proven talent that they’ve had in recent years, thus pushing younger guys into the starting lineup.

Two players the Rams are expecting to step up are Byron Young and Kobie Turner, their two third-round picks from this year. Needing help along the defensive front, both Young and Turner should be able to help the Rams out early on.

They made their preseason debuts on Saturday night against the Chargers and though both of them had pretty quiet stat lines, Sean McVay liked the effort they showed.

“I think it’s just continuing to understand how the urgency is required, what kind of conditioning you need to be in when you are playing real tackle football,” McVay said of the two rookies on Sunday. “Byron ended up playing 23 snaps. It was unfortunate to get the face mask because I thought that was a great effort where he worked an edge on the tackle, bulled him, and he’s trying to fight to get free and not connected to that guy as he is trying to make a great play and ends up kind of just clipping the face mask. With Kobie, I thought he did a really good job as the game went on. He only got 20 snaps, but he’s a guy that plays with the relentless motor and effort, understands the techniques and the fundamentals that (defensive line coach) Eric Henderson and (assistant defensive line coach) AC Carter are teaching and think he’s only going to get better. But both of those guys are guys that we are counting on, and I think that experience that they accumulated last night and moving forward will be very beneficial to them for them being ready to go for the season.”

Young didn’t record any pressures on the stat sheet but he nearly had a sack. He brought down the quarterback in the first half but inadvertently grabbed his facemask and was called for a penalty. Turner didn’t record a pressure or tackle in the game either but it was his first NFL action so it was a chance for him to get his feet wet.

Young is listed as a starter on the Rams’ depth chart and Turner is a co-starter at nose tackle with Bobby Brown III, so they’re both on track to contribute right away.

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Kobie Turner already making a good first impression on Aaron Donald

Aaron Donald likes what he’s seen from rookie Kobie Turner thus far, saying “he’s been having a great camp”

After letting A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines leave in free agency, the Los Angeles Rams are desperately looking for two players to step up along the defensive line. They added two rookies in the draft, selecting Kobie Turner in the third round and Desjuan Johnson in the seventh, but both players have a lot to prove before they’re handed starting jobs up front.

Turner is off to a good start in his first NFL training camp, impressing Aaron Donald through three days of practice so far. Donald spoke highly of the rookie out of Wake Forest, saying he’s looked good so far this summer.

“Yeah, he’s doing great. He’s a smart guy. He understands the schemes, he’s working hard,” Donald said. “So far, I think he’s been having a great camp. We get the pads on Monday and we’ll see how he does, but he’s been doing good so far. I’m confident with him being out there right now just from the knowledge he’s got and picking up the schemes and things like that. And what I’ve been seeing so far on film, he looks good.”

Turner was selected 89th overall after a successful career at Richmond and Wake Forest, consistently disrupting things on the interior for opposing offenses. He’s a similar size to Donald, standing 6-foot-2 and 288 pounds, so he could presumably back up the All-Pro when he needs a breather.

Turner doesn’t necessarily have the size to play nose tackle and the Rams might want some more length at defensive end, but with how often they rotate their defensive linemen and move them around, he could find a home somewhere up front.

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Kobie Turner agrees to deal with Rams, leaving only 1 rookie unsigned

Kobie Turner has agreed to terms on his rookie deal with the Rams, leaving Byron Young as the only player unsigned in L.A.

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And then there was one.

On Friday, Universal Sports Management announced that rookie Kobie Turner has agreed to terms on his contract with the Rams. It will be a standard four-year deal, keeping him under contract through the 2026 season.

That leaves Byron Young as the only rookie still not under contract with the Rams; he was the team’s second pick in the draft this year, going 77th overall out of Tennessee. Turner was their third pick, also going in the third round like Young, but 12 picks later (89th overall).

Turner was a productive player at Wake Forest and was viewed as one of the more underrated players in the 2023 class. He had 10 tackles for a loss and two sacks in his lone season at Wake Forest in 2022.

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Only 2 of the Rams’ 14 draft picks remain unsigned

The Rams have made a lot of progress when it comes to signing their draft picks, leaving just two players unsigned

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There’s technically no rush for the Los Angeles Rams to sign their rookie draft picks, but they certainly do want them all under contract before training camp so there are no issues. With such a massive draft class, signing all of them has taken some time, but Los Angeles is making progress.

After signing Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, Zach Evans and Ochaun Mathis last week, the Rams have just two players left to sign: Kobie Turner and Byron Young.

Rookie contracts are structured based on the rookie wage scale, which pays them based on their draft positioning, so the actual negotiations between the agent and the team should be fairly simple.

However, there is wiggle room when it comes to guaranteed money, as we saw with Steve Avila.

In past years, the Rams have often gotten their entire draft classes under contract all at once rather than signing them one by one, but there’s really no right way to get these done.

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