Rams rookies Jared Verse and Brennan Jackson are working on pass-rush moves together ahead of their first training camp
Training camp is just over a week away for the Los Angeles Rams and players are gearing up for what will be a very competitive summer. Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua have been training together all offseason and another pair of Rams teammates are doing the same.
Rookies Jared Verse and Brennan Jackson were seen in a video working on pass-rush moves together. The clip was shared by pass-rush guru Eddy McGilvra, who’s seemingly been working with the two first-year players in Los Angeles.
It’s always great to see players putting in work on their own, but it’s even better when they’re training with a fellow teammate during the offseason. Verse and Jackson are two tireless workers so it’s hardly surprising that they’re putting in work as they look to make a big impact in Year 1.
Verse should be a Day 1 starter for the Rams after being the 19th overall pick in the first round, while Jackson will try to earn a spot on the 53-man roster as a fifth-round selection. It’d be surprising if Jackson didn’t make it, especially with the high praise the coaching staff has had for him.
Verse and Jackson, along with the rest of the team, will report for training camp on July 23 at Loyola Marymount, two days before practices are slated to begin.
Can the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive line actually be better in 2024 without Aaron Donald? Les Snead has prepared the team for minimal dropoff.
Remember when the Oakland A’s lost Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen in free agency, and general manager Billy Beane had to replace them in the aggregate? Beane’s successful path led to Moneyball, and now, Rams general manager Les Snead and his crew are having a bit of the same issue.
When Aaron Donald retires, you do not replace him with one human being, because Aaron Donald is not a human being — he is an alien from the planet Destructo. The Rams don’t have Beane’s financial limitations; it’s simply a matter of fact that you don’t ever get an Aaron Donald unless you’re exceedingly fortunate, and when you don’t have an Aaron Donald anymore, you have to replace him in the aggregate.
So in this draft, the Rams set out to do exactly that. They started out by selecting Florida State edge-rusher Jared Verse with their first first-round pick since 2016. Then, in the second round, they took Verse’s teammate, defensive lineman (and combine star) Braden Fiske. Then, with the 154th overall pick in the fifth round, they took Washington State edge-rusher Brennan Jackson, and rounded it all out with Clemson defensive tackle Tyler Davis, taken with the 196th overall pick in the sixth round.
“Yeah, I mean I think when you look at it, to be able to get two guys on the edge, two guys inside that we feel like can affect the game in a positive way, that was something that we had identified,” head coach Sean McVay said after the draft came down. “Obviously Aaron creates a big void. You’re never going to ask somebody to replace that void he created, but you can do that by the unit. So to be able to get Jared, to be able to get Brennan on the edges. The way that they play the game. Then to be able to add Braden and Tyler, we were really excited about that.”
Well, it’s easy to see why. These four players work well on their own, and have the potential to really ace it playing together.
Fiske and Verse already have a serious chemistry, as they showed throughout the 2023 season — especially against Louisville, when they were either stunting or collapsing the pocket together, and nobody had a solid idea of how to stop them from doing it.
“Yeah, if you’re ever bored go start to finish Florida State at Louisville, whatever ACC Championship game,” general manager Les Snead said. “Obviously, Florida State didn’t have a quarterback. They may have been down to their third and it was just pure defense to win the ACC Championship, get their ring, get their trophy because it could have easily gone the other way. It would’ve been a season for naught had they lost it. So, if you’re ever bored, watch those two players in that game. You’ll come back and do a rerun.”
“I think it was interesting because this was Braden’s first year at Florida State so it did take probably, let’s call it first four or five weeks for them to get in tandem, in sync,” Snead said of the on-field link between Verse and Fiske after Fiske transferred from Western Michigan. “And I know even Florida State adjusted a little bit their defensive scheme or what they allowed Braden to do and attack the line of scrimmage, attack some edges. What’s interesting as you watched that team evolve over the course of season and become… when they finished that night in Louisville, one of the really dominant defenses. But you saw that group get in tandem. That was a good defensive line.
“But those two doing their thing, again, with Florida State and allowing them and designing those stunts, twists, whatever we call them. It’s fun to watch.”
As for Brennan Jackson, the Washington State alum had nine sacks and 40 total pressures last season, and while he needs to refine his handwork as most collegiate defensive lineman do, he already brings an inside counter, a formidable bull-rush, and a snatch-and-shed move than can be lethal.
Washington State edge-rusher Brennan Jackson, who the Rams somehow got in the fifth round. Eight sacks and 40 pressures in 2023, and he already brings a bull-rush, an inside counter, and a snatch-and-shed move to the table. Get his hands more involved, and he could be a DUDE. pic.twitter.com/o0kxSi6948
Finally, there’s Tyler Davis, the 6-foot-2, 301-pound fire hydrant who amassed two sacks and 22 total pressures in just 277 pass-rushing reps last season, and did it everywhere from head-over nose tackle to the edge.
The @RamsNFL's most interesting defensive sleeper pick might be DL Tyler Davis from Clemson. Attacked everywhere from head-over nose to edge at 6-foot-2 and 301 pounds. Usually from the edge, he was demolishing some poor offensive guard on the way to the quarterback. pic.twitter.com/JCv7sZof52
And when you add these four gentlemen to last year’s draft picks Byron Young (who had eight sacks and 51 total pressures last season) and Kobie Turner (who was my choice for Defensive Rookie of the Year with his 12 sacks and 50 total pressures), new defensive coordinator Chris Shula has a lot of options in his rotations.
So yes, the Rams’ defensive line has the potential for overall improvement even without the greatest defensive player of his generation. Not a bad outcome, really.
The Rams signed two more of the 2024 draft picks, leaving Jared Verse as the last one left to sign
The Los Angeles Rams got the majority of their 2024 draft class under contract earlier this week, inking seven of their 10 rookies to four-year deals. On Thursday, they signed two more players, Kamren Kinchens and Brennan Jackson, bringing the total to nine, according to ProFootballTalk.
That leaves just one rookie from the Rams’ draft class to sign: Jared Verse, their first-rounder. Verse has yet to sign his rookie contract, not that it’s anything to worry about. Some deals simply take longer to get done, especially when it comes to first- and second-rounders.
Verse was the 19th overall pick in Round 1 out of Florida State. Spotrac projects his contract will be for four years and worth a total of $15.13 million, with a signing bonus of $7.83 million.
Six of the Rams’ 10 draft picks came on Day 3, but who was the team’s best sleeper selection?
It’s hard not to like what the Rams did in the 2024 NFL draft, coming away with a 10-player class filled with immediate contributors and future starters. Jared Verse was a perfect selection in Round 1, while Braden Fiske, Blake Corum and Kamren Kinchens should all get meaningful snaps as rookies in 2024.
In addition to those four players, the Rams had six other selections on Day 3 of the draft and there’s a good chance at least a couple of those players will have key roles in Year 1. But who was their best sleeper pick?
The Rams hit an absolute home run with the selection of Florida State edge-rusher Jared Verse in the first round (their first first-round pick since 2016), but in Washington State’s Brennan Jackson with the 154th pick in the fifth round, they got another edge defender who was almost as productive last season at another major program. Last season, Jackson totaled nine sacks and 40 total pressures to Verse’s 11 sacks and 62 total pressures.
Jackson doesn’t necessarily have rare athleticism as an edge rusher, but he never gives up on a play and is always in pursuit of the football. That’s what helped him return three fumbles for touchdowns last season alone, including two in one game against Colorado.
Plus, he plays with great power on the edge, bull-rushing tackles into the quarterback to collapse the pocket or force him to step up into the defensive tackles.
Verse is going to get the majority of the snaps opposite Byron Young next season, but if there’s an injury or if Jackson stands out in training camp, he could very easily become a key rotational player in the Rams’ pass-rush group.
Brennan Jackson joins the Rams as a rookie edge rusher after an impressive career at Washington State
After drafting Jared Verse in the first round, the Rams came back and added another edge rusher on Day 3 by selecting Washington State’s Brennan Jackson at No. 154 overall in the fifth round. He may not have been one of the standout edge rushers in this class, but he’s a physical, high-motor player who’s never going to give up on a play.
The Rams are thrilled to have gotten him in Round 5 and it’s not hard to see why. Last season at Washington State, he had 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for a loss, returning three fumble recoveries for touchdowns – including two in one game against Colorado.
When watching his highlights, he’s always knocking blockers back and in hot pursuit of the football, whether that’s in the run game or trying to pressure the quarterback. Check out some of his best plays from college in the video below.
Under new defensive coordinator Chris Shula, the Rams are forging a new defensive identity on that side of the ball, and it’s exciting to see
The 2024 NFL draft has officially concluded and on paper, early draft analyst grades are ranking the Rams’ 2024 haul amongst the best in the league. What we’ve learned over the course of the last 72 hours is this: The Rams defense is taking on a new identity. And frankly, it’s exciting.
The Rams made 10 selections over the course of the NFL draft, with five of the first six selections allocated to adding much-needed talent to the defensive side of the ball, filling glaring roster voids at outside linebacker, defensive line, and safety.
The selections of Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kamren Kinchens, Brennan Jackson and Tyler Davis reveal similar traits between the five, and could be interpreted as a new defensive identity. This defense intends to inflict a relentlessness and physicality that could draw comparisons to famed Rams defenses of the past.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
It’s still unclear what wrinkles new defensive coordinator Chris Shula will fold into the Rams defensive scheme. He’s been a part of the Rams coaching staff since the beginning of the Sean McVay era and has served under prior coordinators Wade Phillips, Brandon Staley, and recently departed Raheem Morris.
One thing is clear, though: He has a plethora of young talent to galvanize into a formidable defensive unit. And the Rams fan base is excited to see how it materializes.
The Rams drafted their 2nd edge rusher by taking Brennan Jackson in Round 5, fortifying the weakest position group on their roster
There’s a clear mentality shift happening for the Los Angeles Rams with the way they’re drafting this weekend. Jared Verse, Braden Fiske and Kamren Kinchens all epitomize physical, relentless football players, and the same can be said of the Rams’ fifth-round pick, Brennan Jackson.
Los Angeles selected the Washington State edge rusher with the 154th overall pick on Saturday, doubling-down on the outside linebacker spot after taking Verse at the top of the draft. Not only does Jackson bring some juice off the edge with his 6-4 frame and 4.69 speed, but more importantly, he’s someone who will absolutely knock blockers and ball carriers back with the power he displays.
It’s obvious the Rams want hard-nosed, set-the-tone defenders, moving away from having a reputation of being more of a finesse franchise that wins with scheme and speed.
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic quoted one coach as saying Jackson is a “knock-your-face-off run defender and like a disruptive caveman as a pass rusher,” which says a lot about the strength and motor Jackson plays with on the edge.
Brennan Jackson off the right edge being insubordinate & churlish to a tight end and taking up 3 blockers
He won’t be a Day 1 starter for the Rams and he may never be a full-time player for them, but he’s a perfect rotational piece at outside linebacker, especially with all the versatility Los Angeles has up front thanks to Verse’s position flexibility, as well as that of Michael Hoecht’s.
Though he doesn’t rush with desired flexibility, Jackson is fast and physical with the active hands and strike power to keep blockers on their toes. His pursuit to the football is dogged, but pad-level issues hurt his reliability versus the run. Overall, Jackson’s body tightness and lack of balance will follow him to the NFL, but so will his urgent attacking skills and relentless motor. He projects as a rotational edge defender for a scheme that can turn him loose.
With Chris Shula taking over as the defensive coordinator in Los Angeles, he wants to establish a culture on defense that emphasizes a relentless pursuit to the football and a mentality of never giving up on a play.
It’s hard not to like this selection of Jackson, even if it is at a position the Rams addressed with their first pick.
The Rams added another pass rusher in Round 5, selecting Washington State OLB Brennan Jackson
After a long wait between picks in Rounds 3 and 5, the Los Angeles Rams got back on the clock at No. 154 overall and added to their pass rush. With that selection, the Rams drafted Brennan Jackson, an edge rusher from Washington State.
He’s the second outside linebacker the Rams have drafted this week, fortifying one of the weakest positions on their roster. Jackson was highly productive at Washington State, recording 8.5 sacks last season and six in 2022, totaling 24.5 tackles for a loss in the last two years.
He joins Jared Verse, Byron Young, Michael Hoecht, Ochaun Mathis and Nick Hampton in the Rams’ outside linebacker room, and he’ll have a chance to contribute early on.
At 6-foot-4 and 264 pounds, he looks the part of an NFL edge rusher and he has the athleticism to match, running a 4.69 in the 40 and jumping 33.5 inches in the vertical.
What would a Minnesota Vikings 2024 NFL mock draft look like if they wanted to win next year? Tyler Forness takes an in-depth look.
The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of different ways they can go in the NFL draft. There will be some discussion on what needs are most important but the Vikings can address most of them through both free agency and the NFL draft.
Each week throughout the leadup to the NFL draft, I will be doing different seven-round mock drafts for the Vikings as a way to explore different scenarios. You never know who might fall to you and how that could cause a ripple effect and being ready for those situations is paramount come draft weekend.
In the second rendition of our seven-round mock draft series, what could a draft look like that has the Vikings drafted to win in 2024?
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