Jared Verse

Right? Second of all, I think this Browns defense is obviously the strength of the team and still gonna be pretty good.

Not, not as good as it was last year, but Jared Verse is a really, really good pass rusher-

Yep

... and they do have a lot of interesting pieces, and they allowed the third fewest fantasy points to wide receivers in 2025.

It's a very good team that had a bad night against a coach who knows them intimately well.

And, again, with Garrett off the field and then with no Jared Verse, it's still a good defensive line, but that iteration of a defensive line with a healthy 49ers offensive line is a serious 49ers advantage mismatch, right?

Mm.

And so, you know, I, I, I think in picking the Rams, you just don't expect Myles Garrett to be that much of a non-factor.

Trevor Lawrence, a chance to take another step forward this year.

Uh, I think this offense will be too much for a Browns defense, even with Jared Verse, uh, that right now stands to, uh, have more impact on this, uh, game here than Miles Garrett did [laughs] in his debut for the Rams.

Uh, I would expect the Browns to, to score in some garbage time, so, uh, still feels like a double-digit win, right? Uh, I, I just don't know where Cleveland does enough offensively to keep it within the number.

And one of those bigger numbers out there is going to be the Chargers at home.

I don't know if they can run the ball on this front against Jacksonville in this one.

While you've got a matchup where the Cleveland pass D was 10th last season, can it be the same without Myles Garrett? Can Jared Verse just allow them to pick up with the other pieces and still be an elite defensive unit despite the transition on offense, right? Maybe more possessions with Todd Monken coming in, coming in, Deshaun Watson back at quarterback.

We don't know what that side of the ball looks like, looks at.

Does the levee break at some point for this defense for Cleveland? That is something that you have to think about here.

But yeah, Miles Garrett no longer a thing.

Jared Verse is basically him and some pick compensation, all of that.

And listen, the Browns are trying to retool.

I will say this for the Browns.

I'm not here to say he's over here trying to take LaQuint's job as the pass protector, but I am thinking he's showing the opportunity to get himself on the field more often if he can be trusted in pass pro.

And I'll tell you what, even without Alex Wright, which we talked about on Wednesday with Casey, even without Alex Wright on the defensive front roster, this is still a formidable group up front.

I don't think there's any element, right? On top of Jared Verse, which all of you, and I'm fairly certain, at least when they drafted him in Los Angeles – You guys out there in the devout and James Gladstone all wanted to draft him at some point, just that James Gladstone got to actually do it.

So, you know, yeah, I think that that's an interesting development there, too.

He played on Thursday night.

I got two more days of my honeymoon with Jared Verse.

And Jared Verse is talking tough, talking about winning, talking about being a leader.

Like, yeah, that's what this team needs.

So let me just enjoy the next 36 hours while I enjoy my young – defensive end, who I'm going to pay next winter.

Because he's not the typical type of...

Like, Jared Verse, he's fish in a barrel.

Okay, can we call it what it is? Like, as of right now, we're still in a honeymoon phase with Jared Verse.

But, like, I listened to his five minutes of media availability yesterday.

There were people sending tweets about him, like, what a leader, this guy.

Well, the other side of it that I keep coming back to is if they looked good, if they look like this well-oiled machine in a way that the Rams didn't, certainly in the way that the Seahawks and the Patriots did not look, three out of the four teams in the opener already, if they look good...

Think about all the conversations we are going to be having on Monday about the receivers, the offensive line, the defense, Jared Verse, the new defensive coordinator.

We are going to be feeling really good about a lot of things.

And yeah, you might have to swallow it when it comes to, oh boy, are we going to be in for more games with Deshaun Watson? But it also comes with all the other stuff that you're going to be feeling good about.

Rams got miles, but verse was a big part of that defense.

Dude, Jared verse, a great football player.

Okay.

Okay.