Rams’ first-round pick Jared Verse ready to kick off post-Aaron Donald era – Orange County Register

HERMOSA BEACH – Destiny can be funny sometimes. When Jared Verse was an unknown outside linebacker in Albany, his head coach was Greg Gattuso, who had been the defensive line coach in Pittsburgh during Aaron Donald’s first season.

Gattuso arranged a Zoom call between Donald and his Albany defensive linemen, and Verse had the opportunity to pick the brain of the Rams’ dominant defensive tackle.

“The biggest thing I took away from the questions I asked him was that he said you don’t need a huge arsenal of moves,” Verse said. “If you have a few good moves and execute them at the highest level of your abilities, you will destroy everyone. And aggression beats everything.

As fate would have it, Verse was chosen by the Rams with the No. 19 pick in Thursday’s NFL draft, the first piece of the puzzle as the Rams try to move forward following Donald’s retirement in March.

“It’s a dream come true,” Verse told reporters over Zoom shortly after his selection. “As you go through the whole process and you hear them call my name with that ‘Los Angeles Rams’ attached, woop, dream come true.”

Verse 23 fits the physical mold of an Edge Rusher. He is 6 feet 4 inches tall with a wingspan of 79.5 inches. He made nine tackles in each of his two seasons at Florida State, earning him second-team AP All-American honors. He is known for his strength and perseverance to the limit, resulting in 61 pressures over those two years.

“You can tell he cares about football, he has fun playing football and, by the way, he’s pretty disruptive and violent,” Rams general manager Les Snead said. “You think ‘defense,’ the way he plays is next to the word in the dictionary.”

Verse has spoken to the Rams throughout the draft process, including as recently as last week, although the Rams opted not to bring him to Los Angeles for a workout for fear they would reveal their interest in Verse. The brains behind the team, including head coach Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Chris Shula, asked him about certain games and plays and showed him their defense to see what he could observe.

The new Ram said he appreciates the energy of the coaches and sees a clear philosophical fit with his new team.

“I feel like it’s made for guys,” he explained. “You can’t be scared or timid in this defense. You’ve got to be ready to hit someone, you’ve got to be ready to go after them and that’s definitely my style of play.

He will play alongside Byron Young at outside linebacker for the Rams. McVay noted that Verse can move inside and line up with a guard, next to defensive tackle Kobie Turner, who was the first player to reach out and offer help to Verse after he was chosen by the Rams.

And like Young and Turner, Verse began his career below the highest levels of college football. He played three seasons at Albany at the FCS level before earning his opportunity at Florida State.

“There are a lot of players who are kind of getting things,” Verse said. “But I had to be hungry. I haven’t received anything in Albany. Before, I had to work at Amazon, DoorDash, I did all these things to make ends meet. So it makes you hungry to be in the position where I can talk to all of you today, get on a plane real soon and get the job done, it’s worth it.

Verse was the third edge rusher selected Thursday. A stretch of six quarterbacks and a record 14 consecutive offensive players selected to open the draft pushed defensive players to the Rams.

The team had considered moving up or down in the draft, but ultimately stayed put to make its first first-round selection since Jared Goff in 2016.