The Los Angeles Rams have selected once on Day 1 since hiring HC Sean McVay in 2017. The lone Day 1 player was outside linebacker Jared Verse. Was he worth it? In 2024, the 19th overall selection of the 2024 NFL Draft was honored with the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year. In the modern era of the NFL, only two players come to mind who have earned that honor in their rookie season. In 2024, Verse landed DROY.
10 years earlier, All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald earned the 2014 DROY honors. In that year, Aaron Donald was selected on Day 1 with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft
Comparisons would invariably happen. The mystique and presence of All-Pro DL Aaron Donald will eventually fade from memory. And if the young Rams edge rusher Jared Verse delivers on his promise throughout his NFL career, he will emerge as the next Rams defensive superstar. But as Verse's star rises and Donald's star sunsets, will fans appreciate both players separately? That is, will fans avoid the whimsical temptation to compare the two players?
It is inevitable. Some day, fans will be lured into that conversation, just as we see the annual anointing of rookies to NFL legends in the days leading up to and after the annual NFL draft event. But as rookies begin to realize their NFL potential and put up impressive statistics on their front, comparisons become inevitable.
For Rams fans, the idea of comparing any defender is enough to scoff at, now. But in five years, if Verse becomes a new version of NFL All-Pro and Defensive Player of the Year, comparisons will follow.
I don't think that it needs to be spelled out, but in the interest of clarification, the event triggered when Jared Verse called out Aaron Donald to challenge him to work out together was a perfect example of Jim Croce's 1972 hit: Don't Mess Around With Jim. When it comes to the Los Angeles Rams, you don't:
Pull on Superman's cape
Spit into the wind
Pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't challenge All-Pro defensive lineman, Aaron Donald.
ask and you shall receive 🤝 pic.twitter.com/GsUinTtxQP
— NFL (@NFL) June 7, 2025
But the stage was set. Verse challenged Donald. Donald accepted. What came next was simple to anticipate. But we don't stop at the surface. After we cover the events, let's dare to dive a bit deeper.