Current:Home > NewsLos Angeles Rams 'fired up' after ending first-round pick drought with Jared Verse -WealthRoots Academy
Los Angeles Rams 'fired up' after ending first-round pick drought with Jared Verse
View
Date:2025-04-13 00:15:44
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! (1664)
Related
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- 2023 was the worst year to buy a house since the 1990s. But there's hope for 2024
- Small plane that crashed off California coast was among a growing number of home-built aircraft
- 3 people charged with murdering a Hmong American comedian last month in Colombia
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Novak Djokovic advances into fourth round in 100th Australian Open match
- Kraft Singles introduces 3 new cheese flavors after 10 years
- Oregon teen's heroic act may have saved a baby from electrocution after power line kills 3
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- More than 580,000 beds sold at Walmart, Wayfair and Overstock recalled because they can break or collapse
Ranking
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Around the world in 20 days: Messi could travel the globe for Inter Miami preseason
- More than 1,000 rally in Russian region in continuing protests over activist’s jailing
- Biden is skipping New Hampshire’s primary. One of his opponents says he’s as elusive as Bigfoot
- Average rate on 30
- Court ruling could mean freedom for hundreds serving life sentences in Michigan
- Scott Peterson Case Taken on by L.A. Innocence Project to Overturn Murder Conviction
- Grand jury indicts Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting of cinematographer on movie set in New Mexico
Recommendation
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
Time is running out for closer Billy Wagner on Baseball Hall of Fame bubble
Selena Gomez to reunite with 'Waverly Place' co-star David Henrie in new Disney reboot pilot
Defense Department to again target ‘forever chemicals’ contamination near Michigan military base
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
'Testing my nerves': Nick Cannon is frustrated dad in new Buffalo Wild Wings ad
Kidnapping of California woman that police called a hoax gets new attention with Netflix documentary
Many animals seized from troubled Virginia zoo will not be returned, judge rules