After a stellar first season with the Los Angeles Rams, Jared Verse took home the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award at the 2025 NFL Honors last week.
Verse led all rookies in quarterback hits (18), pressures (77) and hurries (56). He also had the second-most tackles for loss (11) and fifth-most sacks (4.5).
Verse finished the 2024 season with 4.5 sacks, 66 total tackles, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two passes defensed while starting 16 games.
The 24-year-old believes winning the award is the first step toward becoming one of the all-time greats in the NFL, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I think it’s a small step towards (becoming one of the best players ever,” Verse said in his press conference after receiving the award. “But there’s a lot of people that have won this award that after they win it, they get satisfied. That’s the main thing, you can’t get satisfied. This is just a small step to a big goal.”
Verse was also happy to be named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year because it is a testament to all of the hard work he has put in:
“It means the world, just showing that hard work can take you anywhere,” Verse said in his press conference after receiving the award. “You don’t gotta be the biggest, strongest or fastest, as long as you work hard, you’re going to become anything, so it’s just a testament to that.”
Verse may have only one NFL season under his belt, but many of his peers would agree that he plays and handles himself like a veteran.
Verse has been vocal about his desire to be great and if his comments after the Rams’ playoff loss were any indication, he won’t let anything get in his way.
Rams legend Aaron Donald congratulated Jared Verse
Aaron Donald was named Defensive Rookie of the Year for his production in 2014 and congratulated Verse on the achievement. “Congrats, man. Well-deserved, bro. Well-deserved,” Donald said in a video.
“Let’s keep it up. We ain’t satisfied. We still hungry, though. We going to enjoy this one, but we got a lot more to go, a lot more to accomplish, man. From individual accolades to team success, just continue to lead, continue to play.
“Continue to have fun doing it, man. It’s a short time you get to do this game and play this game, so take it all in and enjoy it. Much love. I’m proud of you, bro. Let’s go!”
Verse had the difficult task of replacing Donald after his retirement but he did about as good of a job as anyone could expect.
