NFL analyst spotlights Rams first-round pick Jared Verse as a rookie in the best situation to excel Year 1

Did the Los Angeles Rams find their next great defensive lineman in the 2024 NFL Draft with the selection of Florida State’s Jared Verse?

One NFL.com analyst things the Rams will increase their sack total in the upcoming season in drafting Verse with the No. 19 overall pick.   Yes, that is even with the retirement of Aaron Donald, which does give Verse some big shoes to fill.

In selecting Verse as one of 10 rookies in the best situations to succeed during their rookie season, NFL.com’s Marc Ross sees the FSU standout excelling in a youthful front seven that includes DT Kobie Turner and OLB Byron Young, both selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.  That defensive group will also include his former FSU teammate Braden Fiske who was selected with the No. 39 overall pick.

Jared Verse in prime position to be a baller for the Los Angeles Rams

There won’t be one player who will replace the impact of Donald, but as a young group, the Rams are stacked, especially now that they have Verse.

Ross writes:

“Verse is a tough, physical edge rusher who will be able to focus on getting after the quarterback -- without having to take on too many other responsibilities -- thanks to the guys around him. This pick gives L.A. a chance to improve on its sack total from last season of 41 (tied for 23rd in the league).”

It is hard not to agree with Ross here.  Verse was a force at Florida State, leading the team with 9.0 sacks.  With a combination of power, quickness, instincts and high energy, the Rams first-round pick will be a nuisance in the NFC West coming off the edge.  If that is all he is asked to do, the 6-foot-4, 254-pound Edge Rusher was drafted into the perfect situation for his skillset.

As he learns and finds his comfort zone in the NFL, Verse is versatile enough to move along the defensive line as he grows in the NFL which also gives him an opportunity to become perhaps the Rams next great sack master and a player other teams will have to gameplan for, especially as a player who enters the league with a work ethic that will make him a baller in the league.

It is that work ethic that Verse highlighted as the biggest quality he’ll bring to the Rams.

"The thing I feel like I can give them the most is a dog," Verse said following the draft, via the Rams official site. "I come in with a lot of physical strength, I come in with a chip on my shoulder, and that chip's going to continue today. I love being a Ram, now I am one, but like, that chip's going to be on my shoulder no matter where I go. I'm hungry for this. I need this. This is my lifestyle, this is how I do everything, this is how I execute."

That hunger along with his explosiveness as a defender will prove Ross right.  As far as Donald goes, Verse also said he spent a lot of time studying the future Hall-of-Fame defensive end and got a chance to pick his brain when the two met via a Zoom meeting during the COVID shutdown.

His takeaway from Donald is that “aggression beats everything.”