The run defense of the Los Angeles Rams will be the biggest beneficiary of the Myles Garrett-Jared Verse swap. While Garrett is a marginal upgrade from Verse as a pass rusher, he will dramatically move the needle in helping stop the run.
This is one of the biggest pain points and regression for Verse from his first season to his second. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Verse earned a run grade of 81.0 as a rookie before falling to 62.4 as a sophomore. Verse has also struggled mightily at bringing down ball carriers through two years with a tackle grade of 29.7 and 39 total missed tackles.
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Garrett brings neither of these problems with him to Los Angeles. His resume as a defender is nearly flawless, although there should be questions about his transition from a traditional defensive end to more of an outside linebacker in the Rams’ scheme.
While Verse ranked 32nd in run defense among EDGE players with at least 205 run snaps, Garrett ranked third with a PFF grade of 82.5. Despite playing over 7,000 snaps in his career, Garrett has fewer career missed tackles (33) than Verse. That is a wild statistic by itself. Garrett missed just two tackles a season ago with 46 run stops.
Byron Young should pair well with Garrett. He finished eighth in run defense using the same snap and positional thresholds. Braden Fiske is the only other defensive lineman that struggles mightily in run defense, and he stands to benefit playing next to Garrett. A rising tide lifts all boats.
In terms of timing, improving in run defense is not the worst idea from a front office standpoint. The Seattle Seahawks are a run-heavy offense that could unravel if they put too much weight on Sam Darnold. The San Francisco 49ers ask more of Christian McCaffrey than nearly any other team does from their running back. The Arizona Cardinals also inexplicably spent a top draft pick on Jeremiah Love. Stopping these rushing attacks will only pay dividends for Los Angeles.
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This is not the only change that Garrett will bring to the Rams’ defense, although it may be the easiest to see and measure. I wrote earlier this offseason that LA led the NFL in defensive line stunt rate. It was approaching “crutch” territory and they should be able to move away from using scheme and rely on personnel to rush opposing quarterbacks.
Verse was a strong pass rusher. Garrett is still better in this facet. The more dramatic improvement the Rams will see from the swap of the two players will likely come in run defense.