NFL Analysis
4/25/24
6 min read
Jared Verse 2024 NFL Draft: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Los Angeles Rams Edge
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Jared Verse.
Jared Verse's 2024 NFL Combine Results
- Height: 6-foot-3 7/8"
- Weight: 254
- Arm length: 33 1/2"
- 40-yard dash: 4.58
- 10-yard split: 1.60
- Vertical jump: 35”
- Broad jump: 10’7”
Jared Verse 2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Strengths
- Sudden and twitchy off the ball with excellent get-off and velocity generating speed-to-power with leverage.
- Generated power on pass rush off his second step, getting inside and driving through and lifting the offensive tackle, gaining ground.
- Tightly wound, with strength and power throughout his body. Strong core with short area explosion and power.
- Played a power game with the short area strength to jar offensive tackles off the ball and the power to drive them back.
- Fired off the ball with explosiveness and quick, active, dynamic hands. Twitchy feel to his overall movement.
- Showed pass rush plan off staple speed-to-power, with a quick cross-face inside counter and outside hand swipe.
- There were edge pass rush snaps where he showed more than functional ankle flexion to clear the arc and flatten his path.
- Showed a quick arm-over move to beat offensive tackles. Excellent short-area quickness with balance and body control.
- On pass rush snaps, he showed effective hand moves to win, then cleared the edge, flattened and closed with speed.
- Foundation of his game as a run defender and pass rusher is his strong, powerful hands and great functional strength.
- Made plays in pursuit outside the box with outstanding play speed and range. Competitive playing personality.
- In 2023, his first-step explosiveness as a pass rusher was high-level. There were no wasted steps, allowing him to attack the edge.
- Showed effective swipe moves as an edge pass rusher to remove the hands of offensive tackles and open the edge to gain leverage.
- Outstanding balance and body control as an edge rusher. Did not slow down or lose speed at the top of the pass rush arc.
- Flexibility at the top of the pass rush arc to turn off his inside foot and flatten his rush path with burst to the quarterback.
- Physical component to his game. Worked through contact effectively with a combination of strength and tenacity.
- Showed devastating speed-to-power with the contact strength and movement power to drive offensive tackles into the pocket.
- Strength and hand quickness to play off contact in the run game and make plays. Good short area quickness.
Weaknesses
- 2022 tape did not show a bendy, flexible athlete who could bend off contact and flatten his rush path to the QB.
- Needs to continue to develop a wider array of moves as an edge pass rusher. Cannot rely solely on speed-to-power.
- In 2023, he showed a tendency to take false steps when aligned in a two-point stance. More comfortable in a three-point stance.
- Tendency to drop his head and use the crown of his helmet to attack with speed-to-power. Could be a concern in the NFL.
- A little tight in his movement. More straight-line linear than naturally bendy and flexible. Can get stuck at times.
- Did not look comfortable dropping into underneath zone coverage, which likely limits his deployment in the NFL.
NFL Transition
Verse is one of the best edge pass rush prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. He may be the most powerful of the top prospects. Verse’s game is built on strength and power through his body, with short stroke power in confined compact space. He has strong hands with the short area explosion to jar offensive tackles and the accelerating power to drive them back into the pocket, as seen on his sacks versus Florida and Louisville.
Verse was at his best with his hand in the ground in a three-point stance. When he got off the ball with no false steps or wasted motion, he showed both exceptional first step explosiveness to immediately challenge the high side of the offensive tackle at the top of the arc. He also showed devastating speed-to-power conversion to attack the center of the offensive tackle.
What stood out with Verse as a pass rusher is that he was purposeful, with a plan to attack and set up left tackles to get them out of phase and just off balance enough that he could then execute his speed-to-power rush. He did not need a runway to generate power. He was able to do so in a confined amount of space.
While Verse is not stiff, he is a little high-cut and does not possess elite bend and flexibility. At times, that resulted in getting stuck when the speed-to-power conversion was stopped by the offensive tackle. It also showed up at times when he looked to work the high side of the offensive tackle. He just didn’t have the hip and core flexibility to clear the arc.
Verse is a stronger and better version of Kayvon Thibodeaux in that both players' games are built more on straight-line linear power and not flexibility and bend. This flattens their rush path to the quarterback, but Verse is much more physical and violent and a better overall prospect.
Verse would project and transition best to the next level as a defensive end in a 4-3 front where he could line up in a three-point stance. He has the pass rush traits to move inside to three-technique in sub fronts where he also showed the speed-to-power conversion versus guards and centers.
Other Notes
Verse began his college career at Albany playing for two years before transferring to Florida State for the 2022 season. He was named First-Team All-American in 2022 and Second-Team All-American in 2023. Verse had 18 QB sacks and 29.5 TFL in his two seasons at Florida State, despite coming out of high school in Ohio as an unranked player by recruiting services.
In 2022, Verse lined up at three-technique/4i depending on Florida State’s front alignments. He was deployed at times as the looper in long inside stunts.
In 2023, Verse again lined up in multiple positions along FSU’s defensive front, including coming inside at three-technique. Verse showed an outstanding swipe move versus LSU left tackle Matt Campbell to remove Campbell’s outside arm, clear the edge and sack Jayden Daniels.
