Rams draft class produces leading receiver, sack leader, more

Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 1, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams went into the 2024 season knowing they would need to rely on their young players and their rookies more than they had in recent years.

After moving on from several veteran contributors during the offseason and choosing not to spend big in free agency, the Rams wouldn’t look much like the team that had traded their high draft picks to acquire talent as recently as the 2021 season.

But despite not having a first-round pick — again — the Rams had such a strong draft class that they found several key contributors. And though their first pick wasn’t until No. 36, general manager Les Snead and the Rams front office did have a significant number of Day 3 picks.

By the end of the season, five of the Rams’ 14 draft picks were important contributors: wide receiver Puka Nacua (fifth round), nose tackle Kobie Turner (third round), guard Steve Avila (second round), linebacker Byron Young (third round) and tight end Davis Allen (fifth round).

The Rams’ biggest miss was quarterback Stetson Bennett, who spent the season on the reserve/non-football illness list. In his end-of-season news conference, Rams coach Sean McVay said it’s too early to know the backup quarterback’s status for next season. Snead was asked earlier this month whether he’d describe that pick as a mistake. Snead said, “I would say no because it is very early. … I think to determine whether a draft pick is a mistake, you’ve probably got to get to the totality of the career. So time will tell.”

But the rest of the Rams’ rookie class helped accelerate their “remodeling” process — as Snead called it — and the team made the playoffs in a season many outsiders did not expect them to. McVay and several veteran players, including quarterback Matthew Stafford and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, talked about the energy and joy the young players brought into the locker room this season.

Of the draft picks, the Rams have two in the running for end of season awards: Nacua (Offensive Rookie of the Year) and Turner (Defensive Rookie of the Year). During his rookie season, Nacua had 105 catches for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns, setting an NFL rookie record for the most receptions and receiving yards. Nacua’s yardage total broke a 63-year-old record, passing Bill Groman, who had 1,473 receiving yards in a 14-game season in 1960.

Turner’s nine sacks tied the Rams franchise record for most by a rookie, tying the Donald set in 2014. He also became the only rookie in franchise history to finish the regular season as the team’s sack leader. And although he credited playing with Donald for some of his success, he had 22 quarterback pressures when double-teamed, according to Next Gen Stats. Only New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams had more.

Turner led rookies in sacks this season. And No. 2 on that list? Young, who had eight sacks in 17 games. According to Next Gen Stats, Young (63) and Turner (47) combined for 110 pressures during the 2023 season, the most by any rookie duo since 2018.

“I’m really excited about them,” McVay said of the pair. “I just think two guys that did a great job for us, really coachable, very much in alignment with the things that we hunt up make up wise. I thought Kobie was excellent. He’s mature beyond his years and I thought Byron got better as the season progressed.

“…This is a special group of young players on this team, but those two in particular were really bright spots and really pleased with them.”

When asked about what the success of the rookie class meant for the future of the Rams’ team-building process, Snead said it’s still early to have specifics of “the blueprint for 2024 moving forward,” but that, “we’ll take an intentional approach to that.”

“I think we’re fortunate to have another year of … probably more than the normal seven draft picks,” Snead said. “We have the first round pick this year, so we’ll definitely continue trying to add quality football players from that portion of the acquisition calendar, the draft. And then again bring them in, blend them with the group we have and hopefully be better than we were this year, at least in terms of manpower.”