JUST IN:Rams Defensive End Turner Makes a Huge Advance in a Speculative Redraft

Defensive tackle rookie For the Los Angeles Rams, Kobie Turner had a fantastic season and established himself as one of the most important players on the defensive end of the ball. With nine sacks in the regular season, Turner tied Aaron Donald’s rookie record from 2014. He was the team’s leading sackstakes leader. Almost all NFL teams would be happy to have that kind of output on defense, and David Kenyon of Bleacher Report recently calculated where teams would have selected Turner in the draft if they had known how effective he would be.

In order to see where players would go in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft now that teams are aware of what each rookie brings to the table, Kenyon redrafted. Turner was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with the 26th pick in Kenyon’s redraft, while he was initially selected with the 89th pick in the third round. “Simply selecting a new D-tackle could be stupid, especially considering that Dallas mishandled Mazi Smith. The difference is that rather than employing Smith as a nose tackle, Kobie Turner would have more closely matched what the Cowboys asked of him, according to Kenyon. “For the Rams, Turner collected 57 tackles and a team-best nine sacks.”

Had they realized the kind of influence Turner would have on the Rams’ inexperienced defense, the entire league—not just the Cowboys—would have been eager to take him. Turner was just one of the Rams’ numerous draft-day acquisitions in 2023. And, looking back, the Rams, along with the Houston Texans, had one of the most influential rookie class overall. Turner may prove to be a valuable defender in the future and a deserving replacement for Donald if things keep going in this direction.