Rams Jared Verse fulfills destiny with 2024 AP NFL DROY honors

All's well that ends well. The Los Angeles Rams may have been distracted by the chance to draft Georgia tight end Brock Bowers or Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. Still, in the end, the team stood pat and selected the best defensive player in the draft. How do I know this? He just won the 2024 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, that's how.

From the moment that he heard his name called out in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft with the 19th overall pick by the Rams, everyone knew that former Florida State Seminoles Jared Verse was the ideal fit for a draft that was still on the drawing board for newly promoted Defensive Coordinator Chris Shula. But as any good architect knows, the quality of the construction materials defines how high you can build.

And Verse was the mother lode of the finest steel available.

Just as DC comics portrayed the boy from the planet Krypton's fate as becoming Earth's mightiest hero in Superman, Jared Verse's raging presence and trash-talking field antics proved that he was destined for DROY honors this year. It was a tribute to his excellence at checking all of the boxes of the position early in training camp. And his reputation and elite production lasted from OTAs to the 2025 NFL Playoffs.

Jared Verse is the NFL's AP Defensive Rookie of the Year for 2024:

His speech was humble and grateful. Unlike his football field personna, he not only took the time to thank God, his parents, and his siblings, but he acknowledged his contemporaries who were also in the running. His teammate and friend, DT Braden Fiske, was fourth in DROY voting (we'll discuss that soon).

What got him there?

On paper, you may be curious as to why rookie outside linebacker Jared Verse was the clear choice to become DROY. After all, he did not lead the NFL in quarterback sacks. He didn't even lead the LA Rams in quarterback sacks. That honor fell to his teammate, DT Braden Fiske. But Verse was a bona fide terror on the defensive front.

Verse was more than another guy in the draft. He was passion personified. He loved the game with his entire being, and in return the game loves him. Jared Verse plays the game for the love of the game. Yes, the money will come. Yes, the trophy case will fill up. But that does not motivate this man. This was, is, and will be a game to the young man, a game that he loves to play. And play it well:

So how can the Rams turn that passion and quarterback pressure into production and quarterback sacks? That responsibility falls on the shoulders of newly hired Drew Wilkins, the team's Pass Rush Coordinator and newest member of the coaching staff.

The Rams have been constructing the framework for an entirely new defense, and Jared Verse is one of the new weight-bearing walls. Now, the team must enhance and amplify Verse's impact in his second season as the team begins to undertake a stronger retooling of the offense.

Jared Verse's rookie season was amazing. But he is not the only Rams rookie who can puff out his chest for a job well done. And as always, thanks for reading.

More Rams News, Rumors, Draft, and Analysis