Do Rams Have Best Pass Rush in NFC West?

There are just a few positions in the NFL that are considered the most valuable for a team's franchise and one of those positions is EDGE rusher, a key component to the success of a respective team's defensive unit.

The Los Angeles Rams are flooded with them, though they are young with just a few years of experience amongst their top four pass rushers on the depth chart. Overall, the Rams are among the youngest teams in the league with a mixture of youth and veteran talent that has the team on the cusp of championship contention in 2025.

Leading this pass rush group is 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse, the Rams first round pick that year who didn't have the most high-end production but made enough of an on-field impact to disrupt the game for opposing offenses.

Verse left several sacks on the field but as the season went on and Los Angeles got deeper into the postseason, the former Florida State standout emerged as one of the best young pass rushers in the game.

With Verse is third-year Byron Young, second-year Brennan Jackson, and rookie Josaiah Stewart. All four players have high ceilings to be quality pass rushers for the Rams, giving them a potentially terrific rotation that opposing offensive tackles and linemen will have to account for on a down to down basis.

However, are the Rams the best pass rushing unit in their division? That is firmly up to debate, though they possess the potential to be one of the top units in the league overall should each player reach their potential.

Going team-by-team in the NFC West, I looked at the Seattle Seahawks, who signed long-time Cowboys edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence this offseason. He joins a young group of Uchenna Nwosu, Baye Mafe, and Derick Hall who have been adequate players for the Seahawks defense that is prepared for a significant jump forward as a possible top unit. There is an argument for either team here but experience plays a role as well.

The Arizona Cardinals made a couple of moves at edge rusher this offseason with a high-end free agent signing of Josh Sweat and the selection of former Oregon defensive end Jordan Burch. They arrive with another fairly young group of rushers with Baron Browning, B.J. Ojulari, and Zaven Collins, who recently made the transition from off-ball linebacker to outside rush linebacker.

Then, there are the San Francisco 49ers. They contain a Top 5 pass rusher in Nick Bosa, who remains a cornerstone piece of a franchise that seems to be in limbo with aging veterans and a regime that has been unable to seal the deal in the Super Bowl twice in the last six seasons. First-round pick Mykel Williams, Yetur Gross-Matos, and recently acquired Bryce Huff form a quality pass rush group in Santa Clara.

There is an argument for Arizona with their recent acquisitions this offseason and I would say Lawrence gives Seattle a boost but age does play a factor and it's fair to ask how much the man they call "Tank" has left.

The Rams biggest issue is their inexperience and youth but Verse has a chance to emerge as a top pass rusher in 2025 while Young, Jackson, and Stewart form a standout rotation overall. Los Angeles' defense can be even better because of this unit's growth and development. However, I have to pick the 49ers as the team with the pass-rushing group in the NFC West.

Bosa being a top league rusher puts them over the top, and I'm high on Williams post-draft because of his fit and style under defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Gross-Matos gives the team quality depth and run-defending ability as well as interior versatility while Huff gives them a great pass-rush specialist on late downs, making the 49ers arguably the best team to run the all-edge rusher "NASCAR" subpackage.