Here's why rookie Jared Verse can lead 2nd wave of Rams D dominance

The LA Rams may have caught lightning in a bottle for two consecutive seasons.

Infectious enthusiasm. Pure passion. The love of football is a trait that is often overlooked by NFL teams in their quest to find their next start. Some teams chase those collegiate players who exhibit such outstanding production that they seem to be locked to starting in the NFL as well. Other teams focus on a player's physical attributes, believing that if they get a prospect that is tall enough, muscular enough, fast enough, and powerful enough, the coaches can develop the football into them

But you can lead that horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

It may be that in his final season with the LA Rams, All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald did more than suit up and perform on a football field. In his request of the team's front office to 'make sure they care,' he highlighted the very factor in his own NFL career that separated him from the rest of the field. It's the passion, the hunger, the burning desire of the game of football that compels players to become the best versions of themselves.

It was that list of one new item introduced to the team's scavenger hunt in the 2023 NFL Draft that allowed the team to find some of the best rookies in the class without a single Round 1 selection. It was that same goal that may have led the team to another top performing rookie class in 2024.

Of course, let's not pretend that the team did not fall upon hard times. It was the disappointing fall after the team won Super Bowl LVI that led the front office to divest of veterans and highly compensated players, knowing that the road back would take time. And it was that depleted roster that afforded so many young players opportunities to make their presence felt on the Rams roster last season.

Those same opportunities will be fewer and more competitive to come by this year.

Rams defensive front is not the weak link many fear it to be

I may be an optimist, but there is no way that NFL analysts, pundits, or even casual commenters can view what the team has done to beef up the defensive front on this team and not understand that the group is both young and very dangerous. If GM Les Snead can find the top two rookie sack leaders in Round 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft, imagine what two rookies who were selected within the Top-40 rookies can do this season.

Best of all, they (OLB Jared Verse and DT Braden Fiske) already have the type of chemistry coming into their rookie seasons that can take several years for NFL starters to develop by playing alongside one another. Their ability to amplify one another's production on the football field caught the eye of the NFL's top analysts, Brian Baldinger, as he featured the pair on Baldy's Breakdowns. It's their ability to stunt organically that will frustrate offensive linemen for years to come.

But let's step back and take a more holistic approach to the new and improved team defensive front. Keep in mind that the team boasts a nose tackle rotation that will almost certainly include veteran Bobby Brown III. And you can believe that the Rams pass rush will be bolstered by veteran OLB Michael Hoecht and rookie tough-guy Brennan Jackson.

But beyond them, just take a gander at these first and second-year NFL players who will take on the lion's share of defensive snaps this season:

The Rams no longer have a wrecking ball who can blow up an offense like Aaron Donald. So the team will go with an army of jackhammers that will attack the entire offense simultaneously. How long can the entire offensive line hold their blocks with so many young, powerful, and passionate defenders are attacking from all angles?

The Conductor meets the Verse-tuoso

The defense will be eager to step up in 2024. After all, everyone recognizes the fact that Aaron Donald is no longer leading the point of attack this season, both the Rams roster and every opponent that the team faces. That vacuum of chaos won't last long, because football hates a vacuum.

The most likely player that opponents will focus on this season is former nose tackle-turned defensive tackle Kobie Turner, a.k.a. The Conductor. It was Turner who led the entire team with 9.0 quarterback sacks last season, despite playing on the interior defensive front. Not only did The Conductor lead the team in quarterback sacks, but he led the entire 2023 rookie class in that statistic as well.

The running up rookie in quarterback sacks? His teammate, OLB Byron Young.

Some have attempted to diminish Turner's outstanding rookie season by claiming that Aaron Donald took on the brunt of the opposing team's double teams. But facts point to Kobie Turner as the player on the Rams' defensive front who was double-teamed most often. Yes, even more frequently than Donald himself.

But in the absence of Donald in 2024, how will offensive lines handle the defense? Will teams simply start sending two or three blockers to corral and contain Kobie Turner this season? Or will the Rams unveil a new pass rush powerhouse to force blockers to divide and try to thwart two or more passionate pass rushers this season.

Look for Jared Verse, the Verse-tuoso to Kobie Turner's Conductor, to create a lot of problems for offensive coordinators, linemen, and quarterbacks this season. And here's why:

Jared Verse embraces the grind and the good that comes with it

Rookie Jared Verse has to feel comfortable with his rookie role on the Rams roster already. Not only was he selected with the team's first Round 1 pick since 2016, but the team traded up to select his teammate from the Florida State Seminoles, Braden Fiske. That is the NFL's version of rolling out the red carpet for a star-studded Hollywood movie premier.

Some players may sit back, soak it all in, and feel as though they've 'made it' in terms of their football success. But unlike some highly touted rookies who struggle to start at the bottom and re-earn their position of prominence, Rams rookie outside linebacker is not here to soak up the sunshine and sign autographs.

He's here to work, and that is exactly how he has approached Rams OTAs so far:

Physical talents can and will only take a football player so far. In the NFL, the most important qualities are: Availability (staying healthy), Attitude (remaining passionate about football), Coachability (taking constructive tips on how to improve) and then physical abilities.

Under former DL Coach Eric Henderson, the mantra of DAWGWORK was more than a rallying cry for rookie defensive linemen. It was the career-changing focus for all Rams rookies. By focusing on the steps to becoming great, and not on the spotlight itself, DAWGWORK forces players to remain attentive to the things that remain under their control.

Even without the tutelage of Coach Henny, Jared Verse embraces all of the DAWGWORK principles naturally and enthusiastically. But will that make a difference. Yes, it will. And it will be a difference maker in the 2024 NFL season in these ways:

3 ways Verse leads Rams D 2nd wave in 2024

Perhaps one of the most alarming trends in modern times is the lack of understanding about the game of football that many rookie prospects seem to possess. Humility is becoming scarce as more and more rookies seem to enter the NFL Draft entirely believing that they will become the greatest of all time simply by showing up.

But that is not how team sports works. Great performances by quarterbacks and running backs are only possible with great offensive linemen. Great performances by wide receivers and tight ends are only possible with great quarterbacks. Great performances by defensive backs are only possible behind fierce defensive fronts. Football may showcase individual statistics, but it's a team sport and will forever be about players cooperating and communicating to help the team win.

So what does Jared Verse offer this defense in 2024 that can help them dominate in a second wave of infusing new talent? Even at this early point in time, we can already see several ways that Verse will add to the defense's strengths.

IV: A balanced attack

Perhaps the value of adding a player who is very good at just about everything required of an NFL outside linebacker is not glamorous enough to make headlines. But early on in the scouting reviews of 2024 edge rushers, one of the most vital components about former Florida State OLB Jared Verse is the fact that he is the complete package.

While other rookie prospects may have been viewed as the best in any one role required by the outside linebacker, Verse stood out in every role. He was a consensus first round projection, but many draft scouts and analysts had him among the first ten rookies to come off the board. The fact that he fell to the Rams at 19 is a spectacular turn of good fortune for this team.

Verse is a rookie who possesses incredible athleticism, but who ignore physical advantages in the quest to outhustle, outmuscle, and outperform competition on every play. He is not simply a physical player, but his perception of the game and his savvy and deceptive style not only amplifies his football production, but hinders future opponents from GPSing and traits or tendencies that could give them an advantage in the future.

III: A seasoned veteran spirit with rookie energy and passion

Rookies arrive to the NFL with almost limitless levels of energy and a passionate respect for the game that is unmatched by veterans. But veterans become more consistent because they grow their understanding of the game, and the scenarios, that warrant when to go all out and when to be more diagnostic and calculating.

Rookie OLB Jared Verse embodies the strengths of both. Even as he brings tremendous energy and passion to an already positively-charged and passionate defense, he also showcases the savvy wisdom of a seasoned NFL veteran. Verse is already digging out divots on the practice field with explosive powerful strides and instant turn-on-a-dime plays that will become virtually unstoppable when the pads go on.

Some do not fare well when elevating appreciation of rookies leads to lofty expectations. Keep in mind that the Rams rookies who led the NFL in quarterback sacks, Kobie Turner and Byron Young, put up 9.0 and 8.0 sacks in 2023 respectively. I'm not setting the goal for a successful rookie season for Jared Verse at that level. But I would not be the least bit surprised if he matches or surpasses those numbers this year.

II: Won't hesitate to sacrifice for his teammates

While some fans scoff at the need for NFL players to sacrifice themselves on some plays to free up teammates to make the stop, I believe this is the most important trait of all. Until some players on the roster dig in to block, to gobble up blockers, to run decoy routes, or to smother a receiver with blanket coverage that forces the quarterback to throw elsewhere, a team will struggle.

One of the most satisfying aspects of scouting OLB Jared Verse in the days and weeks leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft was the realization that he never hesitated in the least to take on two or three blockers if it meant freeing up his teammate defensive tackle Braden Fiske to make a play. Time and time again, Verse seemed to relish the chance to flip to an inside bull rush, knocking an offensive lineman into a teammate in a way that Aaron Donald did so well, as Fiske rushed to the outside to bring down the quarterback.

It was clear that on that play, a play in which Verse did not score a sack or even a tackle, that he was the engine that pulled that play off.

I cannot be the only fan who appreciates the willingness of a player to sacrifice himself for the good of the team, can I? In my estimation, it's that type of humility that truly launches a player from good to great. Much like Aaron Donald, a player who often faced multiple blockers to allow teammates to make plays, elite performers know how to help teams win.

I: An Aaron Donald understudy

Of course, there is no way that any rookie in 2024 can score high marks in my book on the defensive side of the football unless they understand and appreciate the unmatchable career of now-retired All-Pro DT Aaron Donald. There is no question that Donald has been the inspiration for so many young men who are now playing in the NFL.

And yes, Jared Verse is one of them.

Donald told Jared Verse that he needn't perfect every pass rush move to succeed in the NFL. Rather, it's more important to perfect one or two moves early. At the time, Verse was competing for Syracuse, and he was afforded an opportunity to meet with Aaron Donald via a virtual meeting. Imagine the impact that meeting and picking Aaron Donald's brain must have meant to a young Jared Verse.

While Verse will not have the opportunity to compete alongside Donald this season, you can bet that he carries the memory of Aaron Donald's advice with him every time that he steps onto the football field. And it's that brief connection with the Rams future Hall of Famer that has inspired Verse to become the best version of himself that he can be.

Even as this is a new chapter for the Los Angeles Rams defense, the story continues. By turning the page, this team is allowing a new group of young and vastly talented players to write their own NFL careers. Not all young players will ascend to the highest of heights. In fact, many will not. But elite players will rise through the ranks, Buoyed by athleticism, understanding and appreciation of the game, and fueled by hard work and embracing the grind, they will stand out and surpass our expectations.

Could Jared Verse be such a player? He could indeed. Now we simply have to settle in and enjoy the journey.