Measured by accolades, it would be difficult to argue any player could have had a better rookie season than the Los Angeles Rams' Jared Verse, as the linebacker took home AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honors to cap off his Pro Bowl-worthy first year.
But never satisfied, Verse said last week he feels he left some plays unfinished, and after watching the film he believes he could have had a more tangible impact on the stat sheet with a couple small changes.
"The biggest thing I realized was how many sacks -- and not even just sacks but big plays -- I missed out on," Verse said from OTAs, via the team website. "Dropping in coverage, I could have done this; or rushing the pass, I could have done that. Even in the run game a couple of times, there were things where I'm a little too far inside, I'm a little too far outside, and I could have made a big impact play.
"So realizing that this really is a game of inches -- whether it's just stopping the ball or actually just doing your job -- there's a couple of things I could've done better."
Drafted at No. 19 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft as the Rams' first first-round pick since 2016, Verse certainly proved worthy the trust L.A. put in him in his rookie campaign, as the 24-year-old played all 17 games -- 16 starts -- and earned the aforementioned Pro Bowl nod and DROY award.
He ranked fourth among all rushers in quarterback pressures (76), per Next Gen Stats, also recording 66 tackles, 18 QB hits, and a pair of forced fumbles and passes defensed. He came on strong in the Rams' two postseason games, recording two playoff sacks and returning a fumble for a touchdown in their wild-card win.
But it was his 4.5 sacks that Verse specifically homed in on as an area of improvement, saying he thinks he could have had triple that total if he'd limited mistakes and been more intentional with his movements.
"Yeah I was doing a lot of things but I probably left around 10 sacks on the field just from being a little too inside, a little too this, a little too that, not taking the extra step," Verse said Tuesday on The Adam Schefter Podcast. "Looking at that, I'm like that's not happening no more, so the things that I could do now is a whole different conversation."
A 14.5-sack total would have put Verse second in the league in sacks in 2024 behind Myles Garrett, a lofty number for any player to aspire to, much less one in their first season. Verse will have a chance to back up those words with a higher takedown total in his sophomore season, though he wouldn't say whether he was aiming for exactly that number this time around.
"All I know is it's going to be up, that's all I know, because I'm not giving them up like I was last year," Verse said. "I've learned to take that little extra step, keep my feet underneath me, and I'm taking everything I've got this year."
