Star Rams Defender Catches Praise For Big Time Efforts

Fiske, the NFL's 2024 rookie sack leader, has followed in the same steps as teammate and 2023 rookie sack leader Kobie Turner, becoming a movable piece along the defensive line, doing what it takes to fit the needs to the team, even at the risk of a decreased stat line. Based off conversations in the facility, it's clear the Rams love Fiske for everything he does with Chris Shula, Jared Verse, and Byron Young going on the record to share their thoughts on the Rams' star man.

Chris Shula

Rams second-year defensive coordinator Chris Shula has positioned Fiske in a variety of ways, going on the record regarding the thought process behind such a decision.

“He's so skilled that he's a versatile guy for us," stated Shula. "The nice thing with us now, [Defensive Line Coach/ Run Game Coordinator] Giff [Smith] does such a good job of rotating those guys. We have a lot of depth. A lot of that might be him moving to his best spot or whether it's the combination of guys that he's in with or where he just moves around. Giff does such a great job cross training all those guys. Just like we were talking about with the corners, based on the week and the matchups you can really play anywhere up and down the line.”

Jared Verse

As a result of Shula's deployment of players, often his defenses will have unbalanced fronts with Jared Verse being the lone man on the defensive line. If Fiske goes wide into a true defensive end position, Shula will have Turner as the defensive tackle with Young being placed between the two in a three-by-one setup.

Verse went into his approach as a result of these defensive designs.

“We have a lot of great rushers," stated Verse. "We have [Defensive End Braden] Fiske, [Defensive End] Kobie [Turner], we have them on the opposite low side. You have to respect them, to send four to their side at least. You kind of look at it like, am I going to get a chipper? Is it going to be a pure one-on-one with the tackle?"

"Some people think that their tackles or their offensive line's good enough to block those guys three for three. I don't know who's brave enough to do that (laughter). When that happens, I think, ‘Alright I'm going to do this, it’s my main move.’ If that doesn't go down the way I want to, how am I going to react to it? If a chipper does come out of nowhere, how do I react to with my main movement?”

Byron Young

Young, who has been the biggest beneficiary of these designs, spoke about the benefits to him and the defense in a recent conversation outside the Rams' locker room.

"It could be where he could win high or I could win low," stated Young. "I'm playing off him, sometimes he playing off me. So always opportunities there, giving them different looks, you never know what's coming. That's how we stay good. Because you don't always get shown the same look. When you show them different looks, they never know what gonna happen. I love it though. I love playing off him."

Their ability to set up their own rushes off each other has changed the game on the line of scrimmage.