After being a team famous for targeting as many big-name star players as possible, with Jalen Ramsey, Odell Beckham Jr., and Leonard Floyd all playing notable, visible roles on the team during their Super Bowl season, the Los Angeles Rams are attempting to build a new core on the fly, giving young players a chance to work into roles right out of the gate and gleefully enjoying the fruits of their labors for a playoff berth in 2023.
Do the Rams still have household talents on their roster? Sure thing; Matthew Stafford is still a huge star, and he has two pass-catchers, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, who are very well-known outside of SoCal. Still, there are some under-the-radar names who could become household names for the Rams by the end of 2024, too, including a secondary leader, an offensive lineman with a new role, and an internal star looking for his national flowers.
These Los Angeles Rams players could have a breakout 2024 season.
3. Quentin Lake
In 2023, then-second-year UCLA sixth-round cornerback Quentin Lake had an under-the-radar breakout season, recording 53 tackles, a forced fumble, and six passes defensed while playing 49 percent of the team's defensive snaps. Largely tasked with playing in the slot in addition to his responsibilities on special teams, Lake was able to solidify a position of need with his defensive tenacity and now looks primed to become an even more important piece for the team in 2024, as he's suddenly become the elder-statesman in a secondary filled with fresh faces.
With Darious Williams, Tre'Davious White, and Kamren Curl all added to the team in free agency, and Kamren Kinchens joining the team as a third-round pick out of Miami, the Rams could end up with an almost entirely brand new defensive secondary, with just Lake tasked with serving as the connective tissue for a unit that only has a few months to come together. Fortunately, the Rams appear very confident in Lake as both a player and a leader moving forward, and as a result, he could end up as one of the more interesting players on the team in terms of his breakout potential.
2. Steve Avila
In 2023, Steve Avila was an encouraging rookie guard who looked like he could hold things down for years to come on the inside. A second-round pick out of TCU, Avila has good size for the position at 6-foot-3, 332 pounds, and was able to hold up well between Alaric Jackson and Coleman Shelton, the Pasadena, California native who parlayed five strong years in Inglewood into a new contract with the Chicago Bears.
In 2024, Avila is set to become the Rams' new center between Detroit Lions transplant Jonah Jackson and 2023 signee Kevin Dotson.
Now sure, Avila has played the position before, splitting his time at guard and center during his time at TCU before becoming a full-time guard in LA, but there's a big difference between playing the position in the Big 12 and in the NFC West, where the likes of Javon Hargrave, Leonard Williams, and Byron Murphy II also call home. Still, if the Rams weren't confident in Avila's abilities, they likely would have just kept Shelton around, as he only got a $3 million contract with the Bears. If Avila can slide over to center without any issue, the Rams' interior should be much improved in 2024, as Jackson is a better player than Shelton, both now and moving forward.
1. Kobie Turner
If you are a fan of the LA Rams, you know Kobie Turner is one of the team's best players on the defensive side of the ball. A former third-round pick who split his college career between Richmond and Wake Forrest, Turner immediately hit the ground running as a rookie for the Rams, recording nine sacks on just 697 defensive snaps over 17 games with four starts.
Now sure, some of that success may have come down to playing next to one of the greatest defensive players of all time in Aaron Donald, with things becoming all the more challenging now that rookie Braden Fiske is playing next to him alongside 2021 fourth-round pick Bobby Brown III, but there's a world where Turner fits right in whether the future Hall of Famer left off and becomes a true, blue star for the Rams heading into 2024.
Will 2024 go down as the season where Turner becomes a household name? Will he break into double-digit sacks and establish himself as one of the best young defensive tackles in the NFL alongside fellow rookie-scale rising stars like Jalen Carter? Only time will tell, but considering the Rams' need for a new focal point on the defensive side of the ball, Turner looks like the kind of performer who could legitimately shape the defense heading into the future and become a fixture of billboards and bus advertisements around LA Country for years to come.
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