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What would best version of Jared Verse look like? Browns hope to find out BEREA Jared Verse's entire football career has been built off proving people wrong.
Trying to replace a future Hall of Famer in Myles Garrett? That's just par for the course for the newest Cleveland Browns defensive end.
I mean, I've always been doubted my whole life," Verse said at his June 3 introductory press conference.
"Out of high school, I had the one offer, going into college, and leaving college, I was less doubted, but still had the little chip on my shoulder and everything like that.
It definitely puts a chip on my shoulder." Subscribe to Browns Insider newsletterThat chip has existed all the way back to when Verse was coming out of high school in Bloomsburg, Pa.
That chip was a lone scholarship offer from FCS Division I University of Albany, which he parlayed three season's of work including a redshirt year in 2019 into an opportunity to transfer to Florida State University for his final two collegiate seasons.
That chip went with Verse to Tallahassee and helped him develop into a two-time All-American and a first-round NFL draft pick.
It followed him into the league with the Los Angeles Rams and helped him to become the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowler in his first two seasons.
There's a thin line between a chip on one's shoulder and a monkey on one's back, where motivation can become burden.
That line is perspective, which Verse has tried to maintain as he approaches being the one who has to replace Garrett.
"I'm not here to fill anyone shoes," Verse said.
"Myles he's a size 13 Nikes, whatever they are.
I'm a size 13 and half, size 14 Jordans.
Everybody's different.
I'm not here to fill his shoes, I'm here to bring my own.
I buy my own.
I'm here to work and I'm here to be the best version of me.
The best version of me is going to be the best defensive player in the league, and the best defensive player in the league is going to play for the best defense in the league." The man Verse has to replace because he was the centerpiece of the trade for him has been arguably the NFL's best defensive player of the last five seasons, and maybe the best player overall in the league in the last couple.
Garrett's accomplishments are lengthy, and his impact on a specific play or game went far beyond the 125.5 sacks he posted.
Verse's raw sack stats may not draw oohs and ahhs, with 12 combined in his first two seasons.
The pressures, with 189 combined according to Pro Football Focus, certainly align with that of a top-end pass rusher.
Time will bear out whether Verse's sack totals rise and align with external expectations.
What he's already brought to the defensive line, at least in terms of assimilation, has taken no time to occur.
"So the great thing about him is, I asked him, Hey, what do you expect out of this?,'" Browns defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire said at the end of June minicamp.
"'What do you want to do here?' And the first thing he said is, I want to make sure that I play so hard that everyone around me eats.
He's like, I'm a team guy, coach." The benefits of being a young player with only two seasons in the league is the broad horizons that remain ahead for him.
There's very few players who are the final form of themselves when they're just 25 like Verse is currently.
There's also few players who have taken quite the same path that Verse has taken to get to where he's at right now.
While everyone has their own journey, the one he's been on in football has left the kind of calluses that allows him to handle the kind of heavy lifting he's being asked to do with Cleveland.
That heavy lifting isn't just personal in terms of Verse's individual numbers.
It's also his role in helping the Browns attempt to open a window of contention alongside their other core group of young players.
"Im used to hard situations," Verse said.
"I'm used to having to deal with something hard and transfer that to being a better version of myself.
I'm used to being at organizations or teams, in college, Albany wasn't the most winning team and everything like that.
When I got to the Rams, they still was getting dubs, but they wasn't up there like that.
But every step of the way is just getting better." Buy Cleveland Browns ticketsThere's no doubt been times during Verse's journey from high school to the Browns where there's been a feeling of going it alone.
That feeling is part of what develops the chip that rests on the shoulder.
What even a future Hall of Famer like Garrett would say is that you can't reach the summit without a whole lot of help.
Verse's newest teammates made it clear that they're prepared to be the ones that help him get there.
"I personally don't know how it feels to get traded or cut or having what you you don't want to get that call, especially if you just chilling, just minding your business, just hanging with people and stuff," Browns defensive end Alex Wright said June 3.
"You get that call and now you're on a flight somewhere and now you got to drop everything and come to the next team.
So I mean, we're all going to rally around Jared.
We know what type of player he is.
We know what type of mentality that he brings.
..
So we're just here to just rally around him and get him up to speed, and once he's up to speed, just watch out.
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected].
Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns.
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