When the Los Angeles Rams pushed in their chips for Myles Garrett, many said the greatest cost was not draft picks going to the Cleveland Browns, but it was giving up pass rusher Jared Verse. Although Verse leaves a lot to be desired in production — he has zero sacks in his first four games with the Browns — cornerback Denzel Ward told the PFF NFL Show that he is more of a “vocal leader” than Garrett
.“Definitely brought a lot of juice and just mentality, as well,” Ward said on the “PFF NFL Show”
of what Verse brings. “Myles is a heck of a player, great player, but I think Jared, he’s more vocal, more of a vocal player, vocal leader out there for us. Since the first day he stepped in the building, just yelling, screaming and making his mark out there in meetings and on the practice field, kind of rallying guys. So definitely respect who he is as a player and the way he approaches the game and how he brings guys along.”
This is actually not that surprising, nor does it change the fact that Verse is still miles behind Garrett as an actual football player.
Jared Verse is not good at finishing plays
Through 38 career games, Verse has 12 sacks. In his first 10 games last season, Garrett had 15 sacks.
Verse has zero sacks through four games this season and now instead of the Rams making excuses for him, it’s Browns defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg.
“When you look at games, everybody is looking for the ‘ooh’ and the ‘wow’ play,” Rutenberg said. “That’s not what defense is. Defense is about violence, chaos, disruption, and getting the ball. And it’s 11 dudes hunting on defense, and he’s hunting on defense, and somebody might ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’, great pick, but go watch the tape. Jared Verse might be disrupting the quarterback on that play. I’m going to go back to the Tampa Bay game where he chased it down from the backside.
“That’s what defense is about. It’s creating chaos and disruption, and he’s doing that.”
Though Verse has always been good at creating pressures, he’s one of the worst in the NFL at turning those pressures into sacks. Per Next Gen Stats, Verse has the second-lowest rate of converting pressures to sacks (7.9%) of any edge rusher in the NFL since 2024. He has nine pressures this season with zero sacks.
So no matter what Rutenberg or anyone else says about him, teams don’t lose their minds over pass rushers who don’t finish plays.
I’ve always put it this way:
- A sack is a sack, so it’s always a negative play for the offense.
- A pressure could result in anything. It could be a touchdown pass.
Then there’s the question of whether or not Verse is even a good pass rusher at all.
Per DMAC Football Analytics, Verse has a pressure rate of 12% on true pass sets and he’s probably less valuable than some of his Browns teammates. Verse has 20 pass rush snaps against the Steelers in Week 4 and generated zero pressures. He also went 0/16 against the Jaguars in Week 1.
Virtually all of his pressures came against the Panthers in Week 3.
Verse has a 9% pressure rate on 100 pass rushes this season, whereas teammate Maliek Collins has a 9.4% rate on 106. Verse is producing fewer pressures per play than Maliek Collins. He has a lower pressure rate than Isaiah McGuire, a 2023 fourth round pick who has a pressure rate of 12.9% on 93 attempts. And McGuire has two sacks.
Mason Graham, Cleveland’s top pick in 2025, has four sacks already. He’s playing like an elite defensive lineman.
Veteran Derek Barnett has a pressure rate of 17.9% on the same defense.
So on one hand we’re always being told, “Don’t look at sacks with Jared, look at pressures.”
But on the other hand, if we compare him to Barnett, people say “Don’t look at pressure rate, watch the tape.”
Well guess what:
Nobody ever traded Jared Verse and three draft picks, including a first, for a player with 7 sacks. They only offer that kind of package for someone like Myles Garrett because he leads the league in sacks.
Myles Garrett may not be playing right now, but he has the same number of sacks as Jared Verse.
Garrett never considered a leader
Ward’s comments about Garrett are not surprising because we heard rumblings of Garrett’s quiet demeanor and off-brand style of leadership over the summer after he was traded to L.A.
However, when I hear that Verse is really vocal in Cleveland I have to wonder if any players are secretly rolling their eyes. Denzel Ward is 29 and he’s been in the NFL for nine seasons. Does he really need a 25-year-old with zero sacks to speak up in order for the team to be motivated?
Would you trade a loud edge rusher with zero sacks for a quiet player with 15?
Of course, Myles Garrett does have to show up and play for the Rams eventually. Until that happens, it’s hard to declare L.A. the winners of the trade, or even just satisfied.
But when I look over at the “centerpiece’ who went to Cleveland in the deal, I still don’t see a player who has significantly moved the needle at any point in his career. Getting pressures is not what tilts the field as a pass rusher. The great ones get the ball.
Verse told reporters this week that he still hasn’t taken “the meal out of the microwave yet” in terms of his potential as a pass rusher in the NFL:
Well…When are you planning to do that Jared?
Jared Verse is not young. Not for a third-year player. He turns 26 next month. When Garrett was 26, he had 58.5 sacks and two first team All-Pro nods. In his age-26 season, Garrett had 16 sacks.
Verse still needs four sacks just to get to 16 for his career.
The Rams traded Verse for Garrett and they may have been reluctant to do so, but I also think they were hyping him up in the media after the deal because they had to hype him up in their trade talks with Cleveland.
In reality, L.A. probably knew that Jared Verse has done more than scratch the surface. He’s always been talking about getting better in the future, but the NFL is about the present. And even though Garrett is injured and may not be the most vocal player when he’s healthy, we should all know what matters on the field:
Speaking with actions, not words.
