There were obviously a ton of disappointed Cleveland Browns fans after general manager Andrew Berry made the tough decision to trade Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams. He is the best defensive player in football and is coming off a historic 23-sack season, but the return was so good that most Browns fans have come around on the deal and are excited to add Jared Verse to this exciting young core of upcoming talent.
Verse is still just 25 and posted 7.5 sacks last season after posting 4.5 as a rookie. He is in a great spot to continue his growth in Cleveland and could certainly make another leap to turn into a perennial double-digit sack threat, but according to a prestigious NFL list, he is already seen as one of the best in the business.
The NFL dropped their latest inclusions on the Top 100 list and Verse had the honor of being named the 35th-best player in the league.
“No. 35 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026… Browns DE Jared Verse” the NFL posted.
No. 35 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026…@Browns DE Jared Verse! @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/YyBgnxW2Hh
— NFL (@NFL) August 5, 2026
Typically, losing someone like Garrett would indicate that a team is blowing it up and that defense is going to take a significant step back. However, the Browns are returning just about everybody else from what was the league’s fourth-ranked defense last season and will simply be sliding Verse into Garrett’s role.
It’s reasonable to expect this defense to be great once again under new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg. What’s unreasonable is to expect Verse to single-handedly replace Garrett and his 23 sacks.
All Verse has to do is be himself and continue on his trajectory, because he is already one of the most exciting young weapons at the position in all of football. Garrett can only be replaced in the aggregate, so everyone is going to have to take a step forward in terms of pressuring the passer even though Verse should be able to pump out 10-12 sacks on his own.
It’s going to be an intriguing season and it’s fun to see how well Verse is already fitting in. Congrats to him for this acknowledgement, and hopefully next year he can be even higher on this list.
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