THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – It wasn't until scrolling through their respective social media feeds that Rams nose tackle Kobie Turner and outside linebacker Byron Young realized just how close their sack totals were, and to an extent, where that ranked among NFL rookies and in franchise history.
"I saw some of the tweets from last night," Turner said this week. "I didn't know that we had exchanged places again and again, but it's certainly cool chasing after that sack record with Byron."
"I didn't even notice how many sacks we had together and stuff like that until I think it was a post, and then I was like, 'That's crazy, both of us just neck-and-neck with it," Young said. "It was funny because I think it was on Twitter, they posted me after I got my sack, 'Byron just blah-blah-blah this.' The next thing, two plays later, Kobie passed me and I was just laughing. That was a funny little moment I had. But yeah, it was just great. Great teammate, both of us just good players getting better."
Turner enters Week 18 with his nine sacks leading all rookies this season; Young is not far behind at 7, tied with the Texans' Will Anderson Jr. for second-most. Turner's nine sacks are tied with Aaron Donald's franchise rookie record; Young is obviously two away from matching it himself.
"We haven't talked about it a ton before the game, but 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. So it's really cool to be able to chase after that goal with a really good friend and keep going back and forth."
Chasing franchise history and the top of the NFL rookie sacks leaderboard turns out to be quite the full-circle moment for the duo, as well.
Young brought up how he and Turner trained together at EXOS in Pensacola, Florida, before being drafted by the Rams. They are both third-round picks producing. They also both currently live in the same apartment complex.
"So us working together just to here, and now us showing out on the field, it's just a dream come true," Young said. "Just proud of him and everything we did."
Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said Turner came in "super intelligent" with an "unbelievable motor," while Young made an impression right away with his explosiveness and "being a violent rusher." Young has "really developed some tools" as a rusher, Morris also said, and has gotten better dropping into coverage at outside linebacker.
Collectively, Morris has enjoyed working with both and seeing what they've brought to the table.
"I couldn't be happier with the two young guys," Morris said.
