From the day Jared Verse arrived with the Cleveland Browns, the young edge rusher’s leadership skills have been readily apparent. Despite just two years of NFL experience with the Los Angeles Rams, the 25-year-old has no problem voicing his opinion and challenging his teammates to follow his example.
While that may have been a surprise to some, especially when compared to the personality of Myles Garrett, it has always been a part of Verse’s makeup. For that, he credits his father, Eric, who is a former U.S. Marine.
Verse recently revealed that is where he got his leadership voice from, a trait that dates all the way back to his time at Florida State University and his high school days in Pennsylvania.
“My dad’s always been a vocal person,” Verse said. “If something’s wrong, if something’s not the way that he would like it, up to his standards, he’s going to voice it. And that’s something I’ve just came with my whole life from when I was in college, high school, just going all the way up to the league.”
Verse is already on the record as saying his role is to change the standard of the Browns’ defense, which was one of the best in the NFL for the past three seasons. To do so, he will have to take over for Garrett, who was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and set the NFL single-season record for sacks last year.
But that did not prevent the Browns from trading him away. Teammates may have had some deeper issues with Garrett as he pursued the sacks record, and his absence from workouts under new head coach Todd Monken sent the wrong message.
On the other hand, Verse made a positive impression in just one minicamp appearance after joining the Browns in June. Now, as training camp moves along, he will look to build on those relationships as he tries to help Cleveland remain among the league’s elite units under first-time coordinator Mike Rutenberg.
With 12.5 sacks in his 34 NFL games, including 7.5 last season, the Browns will be looking for Verse to improve on that number, with a new career-high likely. That level of production would only enhance his locker room message.
The Browns could not have known everything they were getting when they made the trade, but in a short time, Verse has shown more than they could have hoped for.
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