The Associated Press’ 2024 NFL awards were announced on Thursday and Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Jared Verse was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Verse was one of the five finalists for the award along with his teammate Braden Fiske, Philadelphia Eagles’ Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell, and Chop Robinson of the Miami Dolphins.
The Rams did an exception job in the 2024 NFL Draft when they selected both Verse and Fiske out of Florida State in the first and second rounds, respectively. The former college teammates wound up carrying over that success to the NFL in their rookie seasons with Verse now having the hardware to show for it. Verse was also recently named the PWFA Defensive Rookie of the Year.
It’s a well-deserved honor for Verse, who led all rookies in quarterback hits (18), pressures (77) and hurries (56). He also had the second-most tackles for loss (11) and fifth-most sacks (4.5). Overall, Verse finished the 2024 season with 4.5 sacks, 66 total tackles, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two passes defensed while starting 16 games.
Fiske had an exceptional rookie year in his own right, totaling 8.5 sacks, 44 tackles, 10 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles in 17 games (eight starts).
Here is how the voting went down with Fiske finishing third, per Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press:
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year voting:
Jared Verse 37-10-2-0-1: 427
Quinyon Mitchell 9-23-10-1-2: 239
Braden Fiske 1-5-11-11-6: 96
Cooper DeJean 0-5-14-8-8: 91
Chop Robinson 0-4-6-16-5: 75
Edgerrin Cooper 0-1-3-4-8: 30
Tarheeb Still…— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 7, 2025
The Rams have to be very happy about the production they got from their rookie duo in 2024 and their draft class as whole, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
The winners of The Associated Press’ 2024 NFL awards, along with the prestigious Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year and Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025, were be announced at the 14th annual NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 6.
Jared Verse sends strong message following playoff loss to Eagles
Jared Verse put up massive numbers against the Eagles in the Rams’ final postseason, recording four total tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. Following the loss, Verse sent a strong message about his desire never to feel the same way he did for his teammates.
“I don’t ever want to feel like this again,” Verse said after the loss. “Don’t want my teammates to feel like this again. I (don’t) want to look in their eyes and see anything but pure bliss and pure happiness. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
There’s no doubt that Verse will work extremely hard this offseason to put the Rams in a position to contend for Super Bowls moving forward.
