Los Angeles Rams rookie defensive back Kamren Kinchens was named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for Week 9, the NFL announced on Wednesday.
Kinchens recorded two interceptions in the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks. Both interceptions came in the red zone, with the first one returned 103 yards for a touchdown. The returned interception for a touchdown was the longest defensive score in Rams franchise history.
Kinchens played 51.4 percent of snaps, subbing in for Kam Curl who dealt with an injury throughout the game. It was a breakout performance for Kinchens whom Los Angeles selected No. 99 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
This is the third league honor for the Rams defense as Cobie Durant was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 7 while Jared Verse was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.
In the team’s first year without Aaron Donald anchoring the defense, defensive coordinator Chris Shula and his young unit have progressively gotten better each week. Kinchens played sparingly to begin the year, but has started to show flashes in the secondary and could be in line for more snaps moving forward.
Coming out of Miami, Kinchens was lauded as a safety prospect because of his ability to generate turnovers and play physical either at the line of scrimmage or in coverage. While he was dinged for his lack of top-end speed and athleticism, Los Angeles has often gravitated toward players who know what spots to be in on any given play.
Although the secondary as a whole is young and inexperienced, players outside of Kinchens have started to come into their own and earned the trust of the coaching staff. For example, relative unknown players like Josh Wallace and Jaylen McCollough have also made an impact and are also in line for expanded roles.
While Kinchens still has some developing to do, he’s definitely earned more playing time as he’s shown he can change the tenor of a game with his ball-hawking talents.
Rams’ Jared Verse and Braden Fiske continue to lead rookies in total pressures
Kamren Kinchens and the secondary wasn’t the only defensive unit to put on a show as the defensive line also wreaked havoc against the Seahawks. Braden Fiske and Verse came up huge rushing Geno Smith, recording three total sacks between them.
Through nine weeks of the 2024 season, Verse and Fiske continue to lead all rookies in total pressures with the former leading the pack.
