When the LA Rams finally settled on selecting Florida State OLB rookie Jared Verse with the team’s 19th overall pick in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, it was both pleasant and surprising. In many mock drafts created up to that point, Verse was always off the board in the top 10 selections in the draft. But thanks to the abundance of quarterbacks, wide receivers and offensive linemen on the draft board, Verse fell to the team at age 19. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise as he was considered the best overall pick by many draft scouts. rusher available.

Now, after six games have been played this season, Verse is putting all that potential into production. Well, at least under quarterback pressure:

The point, however, is that this verse is not the only one. While the Rams’ young corps of pass rushers is still finding range on quarterback sacks, this group is excellent at wreaking havoc in the pocket and forcing quarterbacks to accelerate their throws. In fact, the Rams pass rushers aren’t just doing well in terms of the rookie class of 2024. This group compares quite favorably to the established veterans in the NFL so far.

That includes OLB Jared verseOLB Byron Young and DT Braden Fiske:

The only problem is that the Rams defense has only recorded 11 quarterback sacks in six games. That equates to less than two sacks per game. And Jared Verse, despite his phenomenal speed in pressuring the quarterback, has only one sack to his name so far this season.

Of course, if you’re trying to be objective, you have to understand that two Verse sacks came off the board thanks to defensive penalties from his teammates. So his total doesn’t reflect how effectively he influenced games.

But DROY is not as objective as we might like. We know from 2023 that NT Kobie Turner was the clear standout frontrunner for the DROY award. But Houston Texans rookie OLB Will Anderson took the honors. So it’s not just about production, but also about perception and projections.

Right now, at 2-4, the LA Rams aren’t really making a case to honor players on the roster. And despite his relentless pressure, just 1.0 quarterback sacks for Jared Verse doesn’t force DROY voters to write his name down in full. But the season is still quite young and there are still eleven games to go. As Jared Vers continues his quest to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbackshe will gather more than enough evidence to earn the DROY award this season.

And maybe he’ll help the team win some games along the way, too.

Thanks for reading.