REPORT: Rams Rookie Defender Receives High Praise

Few teams in the National Football League had a better draft than the Rams did. Los Angeles had one of their best draft hauls in years, with many of those young players playing a significant role in the Rams' playoff push.

Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus recently released the site's yearly awards. According to Wasserman, Verse's stellar rookie season won PFF's Defensive Rookie of the Year Award after a productive first season in the league.

"As the final player drafted among a trio of top edge defender prospects that included Laiatu Latu and Dallas Turner, Jared Verse produced the best 2024 season of any rookie defender and became one of the best players overall at his position," Wasserman said.

"Statistically, Verse pulled off a clean sweep in several major statistics, making him the clear choice to win this award. Verse led all qualified rookie defensive linemen in PFF overall grade, PFF pass-rush grade, and PFF run-defense grade. That 86.2 overall grade ranked ninth among qualified edge defenders, which places Verse in the neighborhood of players like Trey Hendrickson and Will Anderson Jr., That’s certainly excellent company, and Verse’s performance can be put into further historical perspective.

Wasserman noted that Verse's rookie season was not only successful by this season's standards but also one of the best rookie seasons a defender has had in recent memory, trailing only Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers.

"His 77 pressures this regular season trail only Nick Bosa’s 80 for the most by any rookie in a regular season," Wasserman said. "It's entirely plausible that Verse would’ve broken that record had he played more than 11 snaps against Seattle in Week 18. He’ll also get at least one more chance to improve that stellar grade in the playoffs in a matchup with the Vikings, against whom he earned an 83.5 PFF overall grade in Week 8 — his third-best mark of the season.

"Another part of Verse’s excellent showing was his ability to stop the run. His 28 run stops were the fourth most among all qualified edge defenders this season and the fifth most in PFF history by a rookie edge defender. His 78.4 PFF run-defense grade is also a historic mark. He joins Myles Garrett, Von Miller, and Joey Bosa as the only rookie edge players to finish the regular season with at least a 78.0 PFF grade as a pass-rusher and a run defender.

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