Rams Will Miss Jared Verse Most in This One Key Area

When Myles Garrett gets his first career sack as a member of the Los Angeles Rams, not many will be thinking about what Jared Verse is doing for the Cleveland Browns. Garrett is undoubtedly an upgrade over Verse and accelerates the timeline and development at that position. However, that doesn’t mean that the Rams won’t miss Verse to an extent.

To be clear, the Rams will take Garrett and everything that he comes with. He is one of the most dominant defensive players in the NFL. There’s a reason why the Rams were comfortable trading a young player like Verse for Garrett.

If there is one area where the Rams will miss Verse, it is against the run. That’s not to say that Garrett is a bad run defender, but it is the weaker part of his game. It was the same with Aaron Donald. That didn’t mean Aaron Donald was bad against the run, but when ESPN came out with the Run Stop Win Rate metric, he graded out as a below-average run defender. When the metric was released, Donald had a run-stop win-rate of 29 percent which was below the average of 30 percent.

Last season, Verse ranked as the second-best run defender via ESPN’s Run Stop Win Rate at 35 percent behind only Maxx Crosby. As a rookie, Verse also finished second behind Crosby with a 37 percent run stop win rate. Additionally, Verse’s 78.4 run defense grade as a rookie via PFF ranked 11th, and his nine percent stop rate ranked fifth.

For some of his shortcomings as a pass rusher, Verse developed into a solid run defender. While Verse had his share of missed tackles early in his career, it was something that he cleaned up significantly last season.

Uhhh...may want to try blocking Jared Verse.

Verse not phased by the wham block. Contains the edge and gets his second TFL of the night - both in the run game.

It will all come together. pic.twitter.com/7iK4bW8UHh
— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@BGMediaOnSI) January 20, 2026

Again, this isn’t to say that Garrett is a bad run defender. Garrett wouldn’t be a two-time Defensive Player of the Year if he couldn’t stop the run. At the same time, it’s not the strength of his game. Garrett’s 5.6 percent stop rate against the run via PFF last season ranked 29th. However, he was the third-ranked run defender on the edge with a grade of 82.5.

Even if Garrett isn’t as strong against the run, he does provide more balance than the Rams had with Verse. While Verse ranked second in run stop win rate, Byron Young was right behind him at number three with a run stop win rate of 32 percent. Young also had the seventh-highest run defense grade via PFF and his stop percentage of 9.8 percent led all edge defenders.

Defending the run isn’t always about getting stops. It’s also about being in the right position and containing the edge. At minimum, this is what the Rams can expect from Garrett. Still, even if there is a slight drop-off as a run defender, Garrett’s ability to take over games as a pass rusher will outweigh that. With Young playing on the other side, stopping the run shouldn’t be a weakness.

With that said, Verse’s impact can’t be overlooked. He was a big reason why the Rams’ defensive front became more physical against the run. Garrett is still an upgrade over Verse, but that is one area where the Rams could miss him.

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