Jaw-dropping Rams defensive duo projected to top spots on All-Rookie team

Top shelf talent blessed with blue collar mindsets

We are all creatures of habit. Think about it. We often take the same routes to and from work at approximately the same time. We shop at the same stores. We dine at the same restaurants. Our schedule is such that we fall into a routine that makes every event in our day almost automatic. The same can be said about out expectations, and our habits.

Where that observation intersects the LA Rams roster is pretty simple. Since hiring Head Coach Sean McVay, the team has selected within the Top-40 picks of any NFL Draft just three times. In 2023, the team selected the first interior offensive lineman off the board by naming former-TCU IOL Steve Avila with the 36th overall pick in Round 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft. But in 2024, the team selected OLB Jared Verse with the 19th overall pick in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, and then immediately followed that up by selecting his teammate, DT Braden Fiske, with the 39th overall pick in Round 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Two of the top three draft spots since HC Sean McVay and GM Les Snead united in 2017 are rookies on this roster for this season. And that means a great deal.

As Rams fans, we have come to expect players to develop from modest college backgrounds, with a bit of rawness to their game, into NFL starters, rotational players, and the occasional star. But it has been a long drought indeed for this team and this fanbase to have hit such a mother lode of football talent in the same NFL Draft.

And the selection process used to identify and prioritize rookie prospects has understandably improved since the team selected offensive tackle Greg Robinson with the second overall pick, and defensive tackle Aaron Donald with the 14th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

The best compliment that I can give Jared Verse and Braden Fiske is that the both possess unstoppable passion for the game, a true blue collar mindset of embracing the work and the grind of football. But both are also blessed with an amazing level of talent for the game. They are truly two of the most gifted athletes to emerge from the 2024 NFL Draft. But rather than arrive to a red-carpet welcome, they have arrived with a chip on their shoulder, an eagerness to get to it. and a passion for the sport that seems to feed off one another.

The Rams shocked the entire NFL by getting elite production from two rookies in 2023. It doesn't appear as though the team will shock so easily this season. This year's jaw-dropping Rams defensive duo is already projected to top spots on the 2024 NFL All-Rookie team. They will accomplish that goal. But I can see their combined performances raising more than a few eyebrows this season.

Thanks for reading.