Tag: Jared Verse

NFL GMs and executives submit their picks for Defensive Rookie of the Year

NFL GMs and execs were polled on various awards and there was a clear favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year

When it comes to Defensive Rookie of the Year, it’s going to be a neck-and-neck race to the finish line in the final three weeks. Jared Verse had been the favorite to win the award since Week 3, but Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell overtook him in Week 15 and is now viewed as the top candidate for the award.

Members of the media will submit their votes soon and the winner will be crowned in February, but there’s no clear-cut choice as of now. It could be Verse, Mitchell or even Chop Robinson. Heck, Braden Fiske could give it a run if he shines in the last three games.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network polled general managers and executives from around the league to get their take on who will win various awards, including Defensive Player of the Year.

Verse was the top choice for that award, receiving 15 votes. That was nine more than the next-closest player, who was Mitchell with six votes. Fiske received three votes, Mike Sainristil of the Commanders got one vote, as did Texans safety Calen Bullock.

The 19th overall pick, Verse received 15 votes — evidence of what a force he has been in the Rams’ recovery from a 1-4 start to regain control of the NFC West. He has 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He leads all rookies in tackles for loss (11) and QB hits (17).

Verse has gone quiet in recent weeks, failing to record a single sack or tackle for a loss in his last five games. But he’s still having a huge impact as a pass rusher, notching 20 total pressures in those five contests – including 15 in his last three games alone.

NFL executives view him as the favorite, which he should be. His sack numbers may not be eye-popping, but neither are any other rookie’s – including Mitchell, who has zero interceptions.

These 5 Rams players are getting snubbed in Pro Bowl fan voting

None of these five Rams players are in the top 10 at their positions in Pro Bowl fan voting, but they definitely should be

The Los Angeles Rams have generated some buzz in the NFC thanks to their three-game winning streak and 7-2 record since Week 7, but that hasn’t translated to their players earning recognition as potential Pro Bowlers.

After three weeks of Pro Bowl fan voting being open, only one Rams player ranks in the top 10 at his position in total votes received: Braden Fiske, who’s No. 4 among all defensive tackles. Not a single other Rams player is in the top 10 at his position, which is shocking to see.

They have plenty of deserving candidates for the Pro Bowl, too. Matthew Stafford is playing well, Byron Young is applying consistent pressure on the quarterback and Alaric Jackson has been an underrated stud at left tackle.

These five players have especially strong cases for the Pro Bowl, yet they’re not in the top 10 at their positions.

RB Kyren Williams

Williams may not be putting up eye-popping numbers or leading the NFL in rushing yards per game like he was last season, but he’s still been one of the more productive players in football from a yardage and touchdown perspective.

He currently ranks fourth in rushing yards with 1,121, fourth in rushing touchdowns with 12 and his 14 total touchdowns are tied for third in the NFL. Najee Harris, who’s ninth in Pro Bowl voting among running backs, ranks 14th with 891 rushing yards and only has five total touchdowns.

WR Puka Nacua

Nacua may have missed five games with a knee injury but he’s been incredibly productive in the games he has played. He has 805 yards and three touchdowns this season, ranking third in receiving yards per game (89.4). That includes two games where he suffered a knee injury and was ejected.

Somehow, Jayden Reed of the Packers is 10th among wide receivers despite only having 727 yards in 14 games.

DT Kobie Turner

Turner is perhaps the biggest snub of them all. He has seven sacks this season, which is fifth among all defensive tackles. He also has nine tackles for a loss, 11 quarterback hits and 60 total tackles, stuffing the stat sheet as one of the Rams’ best defensive players.

According to Pro Football Focus, Turner has 49 total pressures, which is the sixth-most among interior defenders. No player in the NFL has more pressures against double teams since 2023 than Turner, which shows how dominant he is even when getting extra attention.

He absolutely deserves to be a Pro Bowler, but fans aren’t giving him his due.

OLB Jared Verse

Verse has been outstanding as a rookie, even if he has slowed down a little bit in the last few games. There are only three edge rushers in the NFL with more pressures than him (64), according to PFF, and he’s been credited with six sacks by the analytics site.

There aren’t many edge rushers with his combination of power and speed, and he’s only a rookie. With the overall talent at edge rusher in the NFL right now, he probably won’t get in as a rookie, but he’s a future star.

RG Kevin Dotson

There are only five guards in the league with a higher overall PFF grade than Dotson this season, who’s earned an 81.1 mark thus far in 2024. He’s allowed 22 pressures, which isn’t an impressively low number, but his 84.1 run-blocking grade shows where his greatest impact is.

The Pro Bowl is often a popularity contest, and that’s even more evident on the offensive line. Four teams have two guards in the top 10 of vote-getters so far this year (Lions, Chiefs, Eagles and Steelers), with the Packers and Browns having one guard each in the top 10.

Eagles CB Quinyon Mitchell is the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year

Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell is now the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year over Rams Jared Verse

The Eagles hit the jackpot when they could draft Quinyon Mitchell at No. 22 overall in the 2024 NFL draft without moving up. A Week 1 starter, Mitchell has transformed Philadelphia’s top-ranked defense and played a significant role in shutting down some of the NFL’s top wide receivers.

On the heels of the Eagles winning ten straight games and defeating the Steelers 27-13 on Sunday, Mitchell is now the betting favorite to win the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

BetMGM says Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has overtaken Rams pass rusher Jared Verse as the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. It’s still an incredibly close race, but Verse’s grip on the award is slipping away slightly.

Mitchell is +105 ($100 bet wins $105) to take home the hardware, while Verse is +135. Chargers standout Tarheeb Still has the third-best odds at +900, followed by Chop Robinson at +1000. Everyone else is +3500 or longer to win.

  • Quinyon Mitchell: +105
  • Jared Verse: +135
  • Tarheeb Sill: +900
  • Chop Robinson: +1000
  • Laiatu Latu: +3500
  • Cooper DeJean: +3500
  • Calen Bullock: +4000
  • Payton Wilson: +6600
  • Kamari Lassiter: +6600
  • Braden Fiske: +6600

Philadelphia’s two rookies in the top six speak to Howie Roseman’s dedication to making a much-needed personnel change in the Eagles’ revamped secondary.

Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.

Jared Verse is no longer the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year

Jared Verse is losing his grip on the Defensive Rookie of the Year award after being the favorite for most of the season. Here’s who overtook him.

Jared Verse opened the season with the third-best odds to win Defensive Rookie of the Year, trailing only Dallas Turner and Laiatu Latu. He was a popular pick among analysts because of his tremendous fit with the Los Angeles Rams and his clear path to extensive playing time.

It didn’t take long for Verse to emerge as the favorite to win the award, taking over the top spot after just two weeks. He remained the betting favorite from Week 3 to 15 but with only three games remaining, he no longer has the best odds.

According to BetMGM, Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has overtaken Verse as the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. It’s still an incredibly close race, but Verse’s grip on the award is slipping away a little bit.

As of now, Mitchell is +105 ($100 bet wins $105) to take home the hardware, while Verse is +135. Chargers standout Tarheeb Still has the third-best odds at +900, followed by Chop Robinson at +1000. Everyone else is +3500 or longer to win.

  • Quinyon Mitchell: +105
  • Jared Verse: +135
  • Tarheeb Sill: +900
  • Chop Robinson: +1000
  • Laiatu Latu: +3500
  • Cooper DeJean: +3500
  • Calen Bullock: +4000
  • Payton Wilson: +6600
  • Kamari Lassiter: +6600
  • Braden Fiske: +6600

[gambcom-standard rankid=”4141″ ]

Fiske’s odds have slipped in recent weeks after he climbed up the board, which is understandable considering he hasn’t had a sack or tackle for a loss in his last three games, recording just five total tackles in that span.

Verse’s production has slipped, too. He hasn’t registered a single sack or tackle for a loss in his last five games and he has just three QB hits in that span, all of which came against the Saints.

Both players are still having a tremendous impact for the Rams, but they’re not putting up the numbers that voters will be looking at.

[gambcom-standard rankid=”6305″ ]

Watch: Jared Verse savagely trolled Kamren Kinchens for Miami’s Pop-Tarts Bowl bid

Jared Verse had a surprise for Kamren Kinchens at his locker with Miami headed to the Pop-Tarts Bowl

Jared Verse and Kamren Kinchens may be teammates in the NFL but they’re still ACC rivals – and always will be. Verse was a standout player at Florida State for two years, while Kinchens was a ballhawk at Miami with the Hurricanes.

On Tuesday, their college rivalry remained very much alive when Verse savagely trolled Kinchens in the locker room. With Miami missing out on the College Football Playoff and heading to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Verse stacked 19 boxes of Pop-Tarts at Kinchens’ locker.

And of course, he filmed the rookie safety’s reaction and posted it on Instagram.

“Morning Kam. Pop-Tart bowl, man. Y’all boys about to go stupid in there, boy,” Verse said, doing his best to hold back his laugh.

Verse isn’t really in a position to talk trash to a Miami alum considering his Seminoles went 2-10 last season and finished last in the ACC, eight games worse than the Hurricanes. But who cares?

He’s the ultimate trash-talker and couldn’t resist the chance to troll his former rival.

Will Jared Verse play this week? Injury updates for Rams OLB

Rams OLB Jared Verse is dealing with an ankle injury. Here are the latest updates ahead of Sunday’s game against the Bills.

Jared Verse has managed to stay healthy all season up to this point, doing an excellent job of taking care of his body and avoiding any nagging injuries. However, the Rams rookie popped up on Los Angeles’ injury report Thursday with an ankle issue that caused him to be limited in practice.

Verse, who has 4.5 sacks on the year and is the frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year, is a huge part of the Rams’ success on defense so his injury bears monitoring ahead of Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.

Sean McVay shared an update on Verse’s status ahead of Friday’s practice, telling reporters that it’s only a minor injury that isn’t expected to keep him out of any action.

Jared Verse injury update

McVay said on Friday that Verse is expected to play against the Bills despite being listed as questionable. He tweaked his ankle in practice Thursday, which is why he was listed as limited.

Rams OLB depth chart

Verse has been one of the Rams’ starting edge rushers all year and he’ll maintain that role moving forward, but Byron Young and Michael Hoecht will both continue to get snaps alongside him, too.

Watch: Brian Baldinger breaks down Jared Verse’s dominant game vs. Saints

NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger continues to be blown away by Jared Verse and he says the Rams rookie is “just getting started”

Jared Verse is having such a great season that simply classifying him as one of the best rookie defenders in the NFL is an understatement. Through 12 games, he’s proved to be one of the best defensive players anywhere in the league.

He just happens to be a rookie.

His 55 total pressures are the third-most among all edge rushers and his 14 QB hits are tied for the most at his position, too. His Pro Football Focus grade of 84.9 ranks 10th among edge rushers, just to put into perspective how dominant he’s been.

NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger continues to be impressed by Verse’s play week in and week out, once again featuring the Rams rookie in his “Baldy’s Breakdowns” series on X. He broke down Verse’s dominant game against the Saints, highlighting No. 8’s power and relentless motor.

“Just watch him abuse players – physically abuse players,” Baldinger said. “Like, it’s just one play after another where he just dominates the play. He takes the tackle right here and he’s got him on one leg. Physically, almost every play, he just dominates the action.”

One of Verse’s best and most critical plays in the win came in the fourth quarter when he beat tight end Foster Moreau one-on-one and hit Derek Carr to cause an incompletion on fourth down, sealing the win for Los Angeles.

“Anytime someone wants to put a tight end on him like they do here, it’s just abuse. It’s literally abuse,” Baldinger said. “Like, nobody can block him. No tight end can block him. This is a chance to go win the game and Verse wins the game.”

Baldinger featured Verse in another one of his videos, focusing on his matchup with Saints left tackle Taliese Fuaga. Each player performed well and Baldinger gave Fuaga plenty of credit, but Verse had his share of wins, too.

The Rams sure look like they hit a home run with Verse in the first round and if he continues on his current path, he’s going to be a Pro Bowler in no time.

Rookies on both sides proved their potential in Saints vs. Rams

Jared Verse registered six pressures and the game winning play, but Taliese Fuaga allowed 0 pressures all game. The future’s bright for both:

Jared Verse absolutely wrecked the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. It was the rookie edge rusher who hit Derek Carr’s arm as he was throwing to win the game for the Los Angeles Rams.

One person he didn’t run through was fellow rookie Taliese Fuaga. Ironically, on that game winning play Fuaga was right there, but Verse rushed against tight end Foster Moreau. Credit to Los Angeles for how they schemed that pressure.

The Fuaga versus Verse was the battle we wanted to see, and both rookies lived up to the billing. Verse registered six pressures on the day but Fuaga didn’t allow a pressure the entire game.

Fuaga continues to be the bright spot of the offensive line. Sometimes an unit gets beat so bad everyone shares the blame, but Fuaga handled himself great in pass protection.

On 41 pass blocking snaps, Fuaga allowed pressure zero percent of the time. There were snaps he lined up in front of Verse, but it wasn’t the main event we were hoping for.

Instead, Verse wrecked the game by rushing from different places and Fuaga walked away with another clean game. Both teams feel more than satisfied with their first-round pick.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Jared Verse was the closer the Rams needed against the Saints

Jared Verse delivered with the game on the line against the Saints, coming up with a key stop on fourth down

Jared Verse didn’t have a sack in the Los Angeles Rams’ win over the New Orleans Saints. He didn’t have a single tackle for a loss and finished with five total tackles. It wasn’t his best game by any means, but when the Rams needed him most, he delivered in the clutch.

It shows the impact a pass rusher can have on a game even when he isn’t sacking the quarterback and Verse has quickly become one of the best young edge defenders in the NFL.

With the Rams leading 21-14 and just over a minute remaining, the Saints were threatening to tie the game from Los Angeles’ 9-yard line. It was fourth-and-3 after three straight runs by Alvin Kamara, which is when Verse made his presence felt.

Foolishly, the Saints tried to block him one-on-one with tight end Foster Moreau and it went about as poorly as you’d expect. Verse beat Moreau rather easily, turned the corner and hit Derek Carr’s arm to force the incompletion. It didn’t go down as a turnover forced by Verse, but it was a turnover on downs and got the ball back for the Rams, allowing them to ice the game one play later thanks to an 11-yard run by Kyren Williams.

Verse ended the game with six pressures and three stops, a fantastic performance once again by the rookie out of Florida State. He was constantly in the backfield pressuring Carr, dominating on the right side of the defense.

Just as Aaron Donald did in the Super Bowl, Verse closed out the game in dominant fashion by forcing an incompletion on fourth down to all but end it.

 

The Rams collected an absolute star defensive lineman in the draft

The Rams collected an absolute star defensive lineman in the draft in Jared Verse

It was a bit of a surprise during the 2024 NFL Draft that star edge rusher Jared Verse was still on the board in the late teens when the Los Angeles Rams picked him up. Verse had proven to be one of the more physically gifted and violent edge defenders in a class that was lacking top end talent at that position. Now with the regular season entering it’s final weeks, it’s clear Verse was an absolute steal at where he was drafted.

 

While the numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page for Verse with only 4.5 sacks on the season, his constant pressure in both run defense and pass rush has made the Rams’ defense take a huge leap from the season prior. Verse rates as the top rookie lineman with 45 pressures and has been one of the most effective lineman in the league with a 20.5% pressure rate according to PFF.

Verse and his college teammate, whom the Rams also drafted in second-rounder Braden Fiske, have brought new life to a Rams team that was seriously lacking in defensive talent after the departure of Aaron Donald. Verse is one of the clear front runners in the ‘Defensive Rookie of the Year’ chase and should he continue to play at this high of the level, could help punch a ticket to the playoffs thanks in part to his efforts.