Current:Home > NewsLos Angeles Rams 'fired up' after ending first-round pick drought with Jared Verse -FinanceAcademy
Los Angeles Rams 'fired up' after ending first-round pick drought with Jared Verse
View
Date:2025-04-12 14:04:30
Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead famously wore a shirt that said “(expletive) them picks” at the Super Bowl 56 victory parade following a string of trades that left them without a first-round pick since 2016. On Thursday night, the Rams ended their first-round pick drought.
The Rams picked Florida State defensive end Jared Verse with the No. 19 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, filling a big need at pass rusher. Prior to Thursday night, the Rams hadn’t had a first-round selection since they drafted quarterback Jared Goff at No. 1 overall eight years ago.
“He was one of our highest-rated guys in terms of intangibles,” Snead said of Verse. “We have something where the coaches and scouts can say, ‘Look, make this guy a Ram.’ And he was one of the probably top three players in terms of stamping, ‘We want this guy to be a Ram.’”
RAMS' 2024 DRAFT PICKS: Full list of team's round-by-round selections
Verse produced 41 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and a team-high nine sacks for Florida State last year. He was a first-team All-ACC selection.
NFL DRAFT HUB: Latest NFL Draft mock drafts, news, live picks, grades and analysis.
“The way he plays the game from the first snap to the last snap of the game. He wears people down. He’s physical (and) he’s violent. His football character shows up on the tape,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “And when you hear about the way he’s wired, the way he interacts with his teammates, those are all things that we’re looking for and those are the types of people that we want to be Rams. He certainly checks a lot of those boxes.”
The Rams entered this year's draft with 11 total picks, which was tied with the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers for an NFL-high.
The Rams were expected to draft a defensive player in the first round after the retirement of three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, one of the most decorated players in franchise history.
Verse is the first Rams defensive player picked in the first round since the club selected Donald in 2012 when the franchise was based in St. Louis. The Florida State product won’t be asked to fill the massive pass-rushing void left by Donald, but he should provide the Rams with some much-needed juice off the edge.
“To address an outside edge rusher that can affect and influence the game. We’re never gonna ask anybody to replace Aaron (Donald). But you do want to continue to build the front (and) continue to be able to do those types of things, and Jared represented the opportunity to do that,” McVay said. “To be able to get a player of his caliber was really encouraging and everybody was fired up about that.”
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
veryGood! (96656)
Related
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- New Study Projects Severe Water Shortages in the Colorado River Basin
- It's time to have the 'Fat Talk' with our kids — and ourselves
- Taylor Swift Seemingly Shares What Led to Joe Alwyn Breakup in New Song “You’re Losing Me”
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- How to protect yourself from poor air quality
- The drug fueling another wave of overdose deaths
- Dwindling Arctic Sea Ice May Affect Tropical Weather Patterns
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Along the North Carolina Coast, Small Towns Wrestle With Resilience
Ranking
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Wildfire smoke is blanketing much of the U.S. Here's how to protect yourself
- Britney Spears Reunites With Mom Lynne Spears After Conservatorship Battle
- Pfizer warns of a looming penicillin supply shortage
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Taylor Swift and Ice Spice's Karma Remix Is Here and It's Sweet Like Honey
- Biden’s Early Climate Focus and Hard Years in Congress Forged His $2 Trillion Clean Energy Plan
- How Jana Kramer's Ex-Husband Mike Caussin Reacted to Her and Allan Russell's Engagement
Recommendation
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Tom Hanks Getting His Honorary Harvard Degree Is Sweeter Than a Box of Chocolates
National Eating Disorders Association phases out human helpline, pivots to chatbot
Suspect charged with multiple counts of homicide in Minneapolis car crash that killed 5 young women
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
Remembering David Gilkey: His NPR buddies share stories about their favorite pictures
Senate 2020: In Montana, Big Sky Country, Climate Change is Playing a Role in a Crucial Toss-Up Race
E-cigarette sales surge — and so do calls to poison control, health officials say