It sure looks like Jared Verse is on his way to becoming one of the premier pass rushers in the NFL, and you could make the case that he’s already cemented his place among the best just nine games into his career.
Not only is he generating pressure at an incredibly high rate, but he’s also making big plays against the run and creating tackles for a loss. He added two more to his season total on Monday night against the Dolphins, recording another sack and a tackle for a loss.
That gives him 11 on the year, which is tied for the third-most of any player in football this year, behind only Trey Hendrickson and Gregory Rousseau. More impressively, it’s as good a start as any defender has had in the last 25 years.
Verse’s 11 tackles for a loss are tied with Micah Parsons and Von Miller for the most by a player in his first nine games since the stat became official in 1999. Those are two All-Pros, putting Verse in excellent company.e
With two tackles for loss in the first half, OLB Jared Verse (@JaredVerse1) tied Von Miller and Micah Parsons for the second-most tackles for loss (11) through a player’s first nine-career games since tackles for loss became an official stat in 1999. pic.twitter.com/tPUPDen3qf
— Los Angeles Rams PR (@TheLARamsPR) November 12, 2024
If Verse keeps up his current pace of 1.2 tackles for a loss per game, he’s on track to have almost 21 in 17 games as a rookie. For comparison, Aaron Donald had 18 as a rookie and he only had more than 21 twice: 22 in 2015 and 25 in 2018. His 20 tackles for a loss in 2019 also led the league that year.
In addition to 11 tackles for a loss, Verse also has 4.5 sacks, 37 total tackles and 14 QB hits. He’s off to as strong a start as the Rams could’ve imagined when he was drafted 19th overall and he’s only going to keep getting better.
