{"id":853274,"date":"2026-04-04T13:53:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853274\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T13:53:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:53:18","slug":"jared-verse-could-elevate-the-rams-defense-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853274\/","title":{"rendered":"Jared Verse Could Elevate the Rams\u2019 Defense Next Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Rams\u2019 top edge rusher, Jared Verse<\/a>, is one of the best at his position but can he get even better?<\/p>\n

The former No. 19 overall pick in the 2024 draft is one of the Rams\u2019 best pass rushers since future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald retired in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way he plays the game, from the first snap to the last snap of the game, he wears people down\u2026 Those are the types of people we want to be Rams\u201d head coach Sean McVay said<\/a> on Verse after he was drafted.<\/p>\n

Verse\u2019s Skill and Talent<\/p>\n

Verse only had seven and a half sacks last season but he was second in quarterback pressures with 100. His strength lies in his ability to speed up a quarterback\u2019s processing time. He is a tremendous talent with a high level of skill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be completely honest with you\u2026 Jared might be the strongest, most powerful dude I\u2019ve ever seen with my own two eyes,\u201d a defensive line coach and trainer Ed McGilvra said<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s comparable. He\u2019s really one of one. I mean, he\u2019s almost got the power of a three technique, but he\u2019s got the speed and get-off and size of a defensive end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing at 6-foot-4, 254 pounds, he played the same way at Florida State University, where he recorded two nine-sack seasons. Verse has yet to record a double-digit sack season, but this could be the year he reaches that achievement. The Rams were excited to draft him and add him to the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of versatility. You watch the way that he plays. He\u2019s got great hands, he\u2019s violent, and he\u2019s got a versatile arsenal of moves that he can activate. But he plays the game the way we want it to be played,\u201d McVay said<\/a> after drafting Verse. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for grown men on defense. \u2026 He was one of the guys that we had targeted and felt really good coming away with him. He\u2019s going to make a big impact in the outside linebacker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verse\u2019s Next Steps<\/p>\n

The Rams have the 13th overall pick<\/a> in this year\u2019s NFL Draft, and if they select a defensive player, it could place more pressure on Verse. Ranked 11th in sacks, the Rams could use a dominant pass rusher. Last season, Byron Young led the team with 12 sacks, but Verse has the potential to be the leader this upcoming season.<\/p>\n

Verse\u2019s next step involves improving his ability to finish plays. Verse is elite in generating pressures but the great pass rushers record sacks. Verse is no stranger to the challenge. He said he left 10 sacks on the field during his rookie season, when he finished with 6.5 sacks.<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 Potential<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 ceiling is winning the Super Bowl, but they must be elite in all phases of the game including sacking the quarterback. The Rams have already fixed their biggest weakness \u2013 the cornerback room. Adding Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson<\/a> makes them a top defense.<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 defensive coordinator Chris Shula is one of the best at unlocking Verse\u2019s skill and talent. Already motivated to be the best, Verse can still benefit from Shula\u2019s experience. Shula<\/a>, who was interviewed for head coaching positions this offseason, is committed to always getting the best out of Verse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ve tried to hit on with him, trying some different stuff to continue to get his arsenal better,\u201d Chris Shula said<\/a> after the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Rams\u2019 top edge rusher, Jared Verse, is one of the best at his position but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[38654,7,3417,1014,58,4200,2444,2611,6,424,3307],"class_list":{"0":"post-853274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-chris-shula","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jared-verse","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-rams","13":"tag-los-angeles-rams-news","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-losangelesrams","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-rams","18":"tag-sean-mcvay"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116346775494684443","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}