Turf Show Times
Throughout the first three games of the 2025 season, the Los Angeles Rams were awaiting second-year edge rusher Jared Verse to take over a game. While Verse had strong moments to start the season, he had yet to eclipse five pressures in a game and over a 15 percent pressure rate. Again, that’s not to say that Verse had been bad, but he simply hadn’t had that elite-level performance that he showed he was capable of at the end of his rookie year.
That changed in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts. Verse may have only ended up with one sack, but his presence was felt throughout the entire game. It was his strip-sack that changed the math as the Indianapolis Colts were driving to take the lead. Verse won with power, but his strip-sack came on a speed move and winning around the edge. That play was a sign of development as Verse looks to diversify his game.
Verse recorded a season-high six pressures against the Colts and out of those six pressures, three of them came in under 2.5 seconds. In the previous three games, Verse had just three “quick pressures” combined. While Byron Young may be stealing headlines with five sacks through four games, Verse showed why he is still the more dominant pass rusher on the edge.
The viral play from Verse came in the third quarter. The Rams are in one of their packages, utilizing three edge rushers on the field with Verse blitzing as the middle linebacker. This is where the Rams used Michael Hoecht last season. Verse converts speed to power and absolutely bulldozes through Tanner Bortolini. Verse doesn’t get the sack, but Daniel Jones can only throw the ball away.
Verse simply makes moving 300-pound offensive linemen backwards look easy. He had one of the best bull rushes in the game last season and that hasn’t changed. However, in areas he struggled last season, he’s improved in year two. He has a 6.3 percent missed tackle rate which is down from 25.6 percent as a rookie.
While he’s not perfect against the run, he has the upside to completely blow up any run play because of how aggressive he is. His six run stops are tied for the sixth-most among edge rushers. In the play below, he once again converts speed to power and pushes the left tackle directly into Jonathan Taylor in the backfield. Verse created a tackle for loss on this play.
There were some concerns about Verse because of how quiet he had been throughout the first few weeks of the season, despite favorable matchups. Following the Colts game, it appears that the rust has worn off and the Rams edge rusher has officially arrived to the 2025 season.
The cool thing about the Rams run game this season is that when one running back is struggling, the other can provide a spark. This isn’t an offense that’s reliant on one player....
