Rams DE Tops Week 1 Rookie Rankings After Big Pro Debut

Ricardo Klein | Sep 10, 2024

Jul 31, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive end Jared Verse (8) participates in jog through during training camp at Loyola Marymount University. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

After Week 1 of the NFL season, the Los Angeles Rams are 0-1. They lost a thriller in overtime to the Detroit Lions, 26-20. While the outcome was not ideal, the Rams showed the football world that they could be a team that could compete and possibly beat the best the NFL offers.

The Rams scratched and clawed their way back into the football game. While their offense is getting all the shine, and deservedly so, the defense stepped up in ways that only they could imagine. 

Before overtime, when the Rams got manhandled, they contained the Lions' offense for most of the game. In regulation, they only allowed 20 points to the Lions' high-powered offense and kept them under 300 total yards halfway through the fourth quarter. 

The defense was big time, but no one shined brighter for the L.A. defense than their first-round rookie edge rusher, Jared Verse. In his NFL debut, Verse was a force to be reckoned with—so much so that CBS Sports Josh Edwards ranked Verse at the No. 1 spot on the Week 1 NFL rookie rankings. 

"Verse exploded off the ball and was able to create six pressures and his first NFL sack. According to TruMedia, his 26.1% pressure rate was the third-highest among players with at least 20 pass-rush snaps in Week 1. As Los Angeles looks for ways to replace future Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Verse can manufacture some of that lost production," Edwards wrote. 

Verse, the Rams' first first-round draft pick since 2016, showed that he could be the cornerstone of the Rams' defense moving forward. 

L.A. lost arguably the greatest defender of all time, Aaron Donald, to retirement, leaving a gaping hole. However, Verse will look to fill that role, and through one game, he showed he has the potential to do so. 

Verse was excellent in his NFL debut, recording four tackles, two quarterback hits, and his first career sack. The rookie edge rusher showed his prowess against a Super Bowl contender, but underlying numbers and film show that he was even better than the box score indicated. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Verse recorded six total pressures. Those pressures were tied for sixth-most among all edge rushers in the NFL in Week 1, more than Nick Bosa, Khalil Mack, Von Miller, and Maxx Crosby. 

The box score and the advanced stats put Verse alongside the best the NFL offers when it comes to a pass rush. If he can continue this display of football, the L.A. defense will be fine moving forward. 

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