THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- In the first quarter of the Los Angeles Rams ' Week 17 victory over the New York Giants, outside linebacker Byron Young sacked Tyrod Taylor. It was the rookie's seventh of the season, second only to Aaron Donald for the franchise record for sacks by a rookie.
One drive later, he was passed by teammate Kobie Turner, a rookie nose tackle, who got to Taylor for sack No. 7.5 on the season.
After losing veteran defensive talent this offseason, the Rams were forced to build a young defense around Donald, starting in the draft. And led by coordinator Raheem Morris, the defense has outplayed outside expectations. Turner and Young, both third-round picks, have quickly become key parts of this defense.
Turner finished with 2.5 sacks against the Giants, giving him 9 on the season and tying Donald's franchise record with a game to go. Turner lead NFL rookies in sacks, while Young is tied for second with No. 3 pick Will Anderson Jr., who has played in 14 games for the Houston Texans.
"I think we both definitely check in after the games and see kind of where we stack up," Turner said. "It's a good little healthy competition. Byron's my guy and I wish all the best for him. He's been killing it so far and I'm super excited to just be his teammate, get to know him, the man he is. And I know he's excited for me as well."
Turner said he didn't set numerical goals before the season, but instead focused on making sure he was "mentally prepared at the start of each week," ready for practices and film sessions.
"Coming prepared so that I know exactly what I'm looking at and when I look at it in the meeting room, it's like a refresher or now it's starting to get locked into my brain so that when this look comes up in the game, I know exactly what's happening, I know which way to go," Turner said.
Young's football IQ stood out to Rams outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio when they met over Zoom during the pre-draft process. The position coach realized that alongside Young's ability to change games with his athleticism, his football acumen would "be something that could translate really well at the NFL level."
"And then obviously it's not just the athletic traits that he had, it's his ability to come in here and grow, be a part of a process and really take the starting role and run with it," Coniglio said.
Donald, who is in his 10th season, said he's seen the young players "coming into their own." Both Turner and Young have been able to learn from Donald, the player who's rookie sack record they're chasing. And from the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Young said he's learned to "be patient."
"You don't have to make every play, just play your hardest and just do the play how it's designed," Young said of what he's learned from Donald. "Don't try to do too much. Just do literally what you're supposed to do and play hard. And that paid off. That paid off big time. And I'm just glad to be a part of that aside a guy like AD."
Turner is within striking distance of Defensive Rookie of the Year, an award Donald won in 2014. With one game to go, Turner is +500 to win, behind Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (-175) and Anderson (+250). Young is tied for the seventh-best odds (+20000). But with the playoffs around the corner, Turner said he's not focused on whether or not he'll win the award.
"I definitely think that I have put in the work to put myself into the conversation, but that's not for me to decide, of course," Turner said. "All there is for me to do is just keep working, take it each day by day and just put out tape that's going to make it not questionable that that's where I should be. So I don't have any say as far as I should be this, I should be that.
"What I know that I should be doing is getting right back to work, and that's exactly what I'm going to do throughout this next week and now throughout the next week after that as well."