Sacks are the easiest way to judge a pass rusher, and often the least reliable. A defender can win his matchup snap after snap, push the quarterback off his spot and blow up runs in the backfield, then finish the day without a sack. Coaches see those plays on film long before they show up in the stat sheet. Cleveland’s defensive coordinator believes that is happening with one of his most important players.
Mike Rutenberg talked about Jared Verse’s progress, and he likes what he sees.
“You watch that last game, he’s got multiple plays where he is creating havoc and disruption,” Rutenberg said. “He’s continuing to find his ways to create pressure, to create disruption in the run game, to set edges, and I see it every day in practice. I see it within our conversations that he’s finding his inches, and I continue to see it going upward, the way he’s affecting games with his disruption. I’m really happy about it.”
The box score backs up Rutenberg’s point about film. Verse finished the win over the Tennessee Titans with just 1 tackle, but his coordinator saw several plays where he changed the outcome. That gap has followed Verse all season.
Through 7 games, he still has no sacks. Still, he has 5 quarterback hits and 5 tackles for loss, with at least 1 tackle for loss in 5 of the 7 games. Those numbers reflect a player who is consistently getting into the backfield, just not quite finishing.
The adjustment explains part of it. Verse played as a stand-up outside linebacker with the Los Angeles Rams before the Myles Garrett trade brought him to Cleveland, and he has admitted that moving to a hand-in-the-dirt role in the Browns’ 4-3 scheme has been difficult. Rutenberg’s mention of finding his inches suggests the small technical details are starting to come together.
His track record says the production will come. The Rams took Verse 19th overall in 2024, and he won Defensive Rookie of the Year before making 2 Pro Bowls and recording 12 sacks in his first 2 seasons.
His impact also shows up in what happens around him. Opponents have regularly slid protection and chipped Verse with tight ends, which has freed players like Maliek Collins, Adin Huntington and Mason Graham to win one-on-one matchups.
Sunday would be a fitting time for his first sack in Cleveland. Verse has spent the week saying he is not worried about Cam Heyward, Pittsburgh’s offensive line or anyone else on the Steelers’ roster, and he gave Pittsburgh plenty of bulletin board material along the way.
His confidence suggests a breakout could be close, and there would be no better place for it than Pittsburgh with 1st place on the line.
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