Rams' Young, Talented Defense Ready to Take the Next Step

The Los Angeles Rams' defense kept them afloat multiple times last season while the offense figured things out. Led by young, talented players, Los Angeles' defense is a formidable bunch.

Still, coming off winning the Rookie Defensive Player of the Year Award, Jared Verse noted there is still plenty for he and his teammates to learn.

"Definitely. You’ve got to learn your ops [opportunities] before anything. You’ve got to learn [when] I can take a high rush here, or no, it’s just my job to eat the double team, or the chip’s coming my way. I’ve just got to learn to force that or try, and get past that. So, you’ve got to learn your opportunities—that’s the number one thing," Verse said.

"But then you also got to learn who you’re rushing with. Rushing with Kobie and rushing with Fiske—they’re both athletic rushers, but they rush very differently. Rushing with me and rushing with ‘BY’ [Byron Young] are two completely different things. So they have to learn the difference between us two. Now I have to learn the difference between them two. Now I’ve got to learn the difference between rushing with [Rookie DE] Ty [Hamilton] and rushing with [Braden] Fiske, and they have to learn the difference between rushing with [Rookie OLB] Josaiah [Stewart] and rushing with me," Verse said.

Overall, Verse feels he and his teammates on defense did a solid job and have returned this offseason focused on the task at hand. The Rams' up-and-coming defense is a part of the reason the Rams are expected to make a deep playoff run this upcoming season.

However, for that to happen, Verse and the defense must continue playing at a high level through the regular season. They then must have enough for the additional weeks at the end of the season.

"I think we did good, but I think we became more focused on helping the team than trying to do our own little thing and having a good little duo going on. I think we have learned the opportunities that we have to work together. We’ll look at each other, and he’ll just shake his head yes, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I know what this is,’ or he’ll look at me, and I’ll be like [nodding yes]. So now we finally took another step—having another year together to figure out, ‘Hey, this is how I work, this is how he works.’ So, I feel like this year is going to be a good one for us to play together," Verse said.

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