The Los Angeles Rams have endured some truly woeful special teams over the last few seasons, and inconsistent kicking loomed over their resurgent 2023 season. In an effort to finally give themselves a potential long-term solution at kicker, the Rams invested in one in the 2024 NFL Draft, spending a sixth-round pick on Stanford kicker Joshua Karty.
Karty was excellent for the Cardinal over his career, missing just a single extra point in college and went 51-of-60 on field goals over his career, with just one miss under 40 yards in his career. Karty went seven-for-seven on 40-49 yard field goals in 2023, with a career tally of 20-for-21 in this range. His accuracy and range as a kicker had many consider him the best kicker in the draft, and has prompted a bold prediction about his success in 2024.
In his latest 100 bold predictions for the 2024 NFL Season, Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr predicted that Joshua Karty will break the NFL’s rookie record for most points scored in a season.
"The Rams’ kicker, drafted in the sixth round out of Stanford, seems to have a hold on the gig, barring a disastrous summer or early fall. L.A. should also score a lot of points this year. Down goes Brandon Aubrey’s record of 157 points set last season. It’s a Karty Party all up in here."
This is a pretty lofty goal for Karty to make, as that is roughly the same as 53 field goals. However, if he keeps his extra-point streak alive with how many touchdowns the Rams are poised to score, Karty should come pretty close to hitting this mark. The Rams finally feel like they have found their kicker, and meeting this impressive mark would cement that fact.