3 revelations from Rams OTAs that fans will almost certainly love

(1) Jared Verse in on a mission in 2025

You may suspect that 2024 DROY Jared Verse would be satisfied and content with his performance in the Rams' defense last season. He certainly positively impacted the games he appeared in last season. And he was constantly in pursuit of opposing quarterbacks all season long. But in the aftermath, Jared Verse revisited what he did in his rookie season, and he has reached a conclusion.

He believes that he may have left 10 or more quarterback sacks on the football field in 2024.

Perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that the Rams may agree. That explains the team's interest in hiring former Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots positional coach Drew Wilkens. Wilkens is a pass rush aficionado, a coach who specializes in optimizing the pass rush efforts of the defense.

Drew Wilkens arrives as the Rams' new Defensive Pass Rush Coordinator. That's an odd assignment for a defense that just blew up offensive lines with 17 quarterback sacks in two NFL Playoff games. But what the Rams learned in the postseason is that with the abundant talent suiting up for every game, averaging 8.5+ quarterback sacks per game is within the scope of possibilities.

Now the team has brought in the expertise to the coaching staff to realize that potential more consistently. And if the question about the defense begins with OLB Jared Verse's claim to leaving 10+ quarterback sacks on the football field, where does it end?

If you project OLBs Jared Verse and Bryon Young, and DTs Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske at 10.0+ QB sacks apiece, that is a significant jump over 2024 alone. But it really starts to get exciting when you factor rookie Josaiah Stewart into the mix, and an entirely new arsenal of stunts and blitz packages to free up pass rushers.

Many NFL teams would sit back and conclude that 17 quarterback sacks prove that the defense is on the right track. But the Rams witnessed the significant progress made by the pass rush and then invested in even more resources to see it explode in 2025.

Second-year outside linebacker Jared Verse is not satisfied with chasing a quarterback out of the pocket. He wants to record sacks, and the history of second-year outside linebackers is very much on his side in terms of significant improvement this year. The Rams' young pass rush was bonkers in the NFL Playoffs. But if the stars align in 2025, the team could lead the NFL in quarterback sacks.

As always, thanks for reading.

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