Puka Nacua and Kobie Turner's Historic December Help Rams Accomplish Rare Feat
The Los Angeles Rams may be the most surprising team to survive the regular season. Quarterback Matthew Stafford’s incredible play has helped Los Angeles win seven of its last eight games, but the story of this season has been this team’s incredible rookie class.
Finding a couple of starters in any draft class is a good sign. Doing so without a first-round pick is even more impressive. Finding five is a rare feat, and the caliber of starters the Rams found makes it a lot easier to understand how an unknown roster has blossomed into a legitimate threat on Wild Card Weekend.
Los Angeles’ class is, of course, headlined by Puka Nacua. He set the rookie record for receptions and receiving yards in a season. Nacua did so partly in the shadow of veteran Cooper Kupp and partly without him – allowing more resources to be sent his way.
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It didn’t matter. Nacua finished the year with 105 catches for 1,486 yards and six scores – video game numbers for head coach Sean McVay’s new favorite target.
On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Kobie Turner made an impact, too. His nine sacks have helped cement him as a building block for the Rams. They also, in part, gave Los Angeles the path to an accomplishment no other team can claim this season.
Nacua and Turner both won December Rookie of the Month honors, the only pair of teammates to win the award in the same month.
Turner’s December, complete with five sacks and a couple of game-changing plays was crucial to a hot streak that is burning as the schedule turns to the playoffs. Nacua found three 100-yard games – including one for 164 yards and a score – in the season’s final month. He has quickly become the face of the Rams’ weapons.
Simply put, it is hard not to be optimistic about the future of Los Angeles football. General manager Les Snead took Turner and Nacua with third- and fifth-round picks, respectively, and will have a first-round pick to spend for the first time since the team took quarterback Jared Goff in 2016.
As for this year’s rookie class, they’ll attempt to take down Goff and the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
