When the Los Angeles Rams lost Aaron Donald due to retirement, it left a Hall of Fame-sized hole on the defense. No matter what anyone tries to argue, this is no way to replace a player of Donald’s caliber. However, the Rams did just about as good as they possibly could have.
With their first first-round pick since selecting Jared Goff in 2016, the Rams selected Jared Verse 19th overall.
He had a really solid career at Florida State, and most pundits, including us here at the LAFB Network, deemed this as a very solid selection for Sean McVay and Les Snead.
While we thought the pick was a good one, I don’t think anyone could have expected just how good Verse would be.
Los Angeles Rams OLB Jared Verse Named Defensive Rookie Of The Year

The Pro Football Writers of America have named Jared Verse the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Based on the season that he had, this may have been the biggest no-brainer vote of all time.
During the regular season, Verse finished with 66 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries, per ESPN.
This is a regular-season award, but Verse was even more remarkable in the playoffs. He finished with 7 total pressures and 7 QB hurries against the Vikings, and garnered 2 sacks against the Eagles, per PFF. Also against the Vikings, he had a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown.
For the totality of the season, he finished with an astounding 89 total pressures.
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For some context, Will Anderson finished with 68 pressures last season when he won Rookie of the Year. And Kobie Turner, who should have won Rookie of the Year in 2023, finished with 50 pressures.
The AP Rookie of the Year is announced at the NFL Honors during the week of the Super Bowl. We fully expect Jared Verse to lock that one up as well, cementing his rookie season as one of the best in Los Angeles Rams history.
Fellow rookies Braden Fiske and Jordan Whittington joined Verse on the All-Rookie team.