The Rams thought they had hit a home run when they made a pick in the opening round of the 2024 NFL Draft for the first time since 2016.
As it turns out, they did more than that. By drafting star Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse, they'd landed a future award-winner.
Verse was named the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year at NFL Honors on Thursday in New Orleans, capping an impressive first season with an accolade that suggests his best is yet to come.
He garnered 37 first-place votes and 427 points. Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, the only other player to receive more than one first-place vote (he had nine), came in second with 239 points. Verse's teammate Braden Fiske (96) placed third, followed by Eagles CB Cooper DeJean (91) and Dolphins pass rusher Chop Robinson (75).
Verse joined the Rams via the 19th-overall pick of a draft class that skewed so heavily toward the offensive side of the ball that a defender wasn't taken until the 15th selection (Indianapolis' Laiatu Latu). As a result, Verse slid toward the back half of the first round, where the Rams were happy to scoop him up.
Verse hit the ground running as a rookie, recording a sack in his first NFL game. He finished with 4.5 sacks, but more importantly ranked fourth among all rushers in quarterback pressures (76), per Next Gen Stats, and was one of just eight non-linebackers to end 2024 with 40-plus run stops. He saved his best for last. In the Rams' wild-card win over the 15-2 Vikings, he returned a fumble for a touchdown. Then he was consistently wreaking havoc in the Divisional Round, recording four QB pressures and logging two sacks in the Rams' loss to the eventual NFC champion Eagles, enticing jeers from a hostile road crowd throughout the game for his pre-game comments.
Verse was the first of two Florida State defenders selected by the Rams with their initial two selections, welcoming defensive tackle and former Seminoles teammate, Fiske, to Los Angeles one day after he answered the call from the Rams. With Verse, Fiske, Kobie Turner and Bobby Brown filling out the front four, the Rams have successfully rebuilt their defensive line following Aaron Donald's retirement and are positioned for a bright future in the trenches.
Verse was a powerful edge rusher at Florida State, playing a key part in a Seminoles team that finished the 2023 season undefeated and won the Atlantic Coast Conference. He was inexplicably passed over for two other edge rushers (Latu, Minnesota's Dallas Turner) in the draft. He proved those choices wrong with his play in 2024 and has some new hardware to show for it.
