Jared Verse has come in and made an immediate impact on the Rams as a rookie. He’s their top pass rusher and the best defensive rookie in the NFL, but his game actually originated on offense.
In an interview with J.B. Long on the “Rams Revealed” series, Verse talked about his background as a tight end. In high school, he only started one game as a defensive end and finished his career with more receptions as a tight end than tackles on defense.
“In high school, I only started one game at defensive end,” Verse said.
“Wow, so you had some game on offense,” Long replied.
Verse: “Yeah, I was like that. I was like that.”
Once he got to college, Verse transitioned to a full-time role as a defender and excelled at both Albany and Florida State. His value is unquestionably on the defensive side of the ball, but like former Rams stars Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald, he’d like a chance to show off his skills on offense, too.
“I’ve actually been mentioning this like three, four times,” he said of his desire to play offense. “I don’t need that goal line stuff. I want open field. Let me go out there, let me show them I can route somebody up. If I get locked up, all right, we’ll just stick with the defense. But you know, just let me get that chance. Let me show you a little bit.”
Verse is 6-foot-4 and 254 pounds, so he has the size to play tight end. And with 4.58 speed, he also has the athleticism to do it, too. At the combine, he jumped 35 inches in the vertical and 10-foot-7 in the broad, once again showing off his explosiveness.
It’ll probably never happen, but it sure would be fun to see Verse line up at tight end and catch a touchdown pass at some point.