HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams went seven years without a first-round pick in the NFL draft, in part, because they felt urgency to make the most of Aaron Donald's exceptional presence.
After selecting Florida State defensive end Jared Verse with the 19th overall pick on Thursday night, the Rams hope he can help them ease into life without one of the most disruptive players in the history of the sport.
Click to Gallery
HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams went seven years without a first-round pick in the NFL draft, in part, because they felt urgency to make the most of Aaron Donald's exceptional presence.
Fans react Thursday, April 25, 2025, in Hermosa Beach, Calif., as the Los Angeles Rams picked Florida State defensive end Jared Verse in the first round of the NFL football draft in Detroit. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)
FILE - Florida State defensive lineman Jared Verse runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Indianapolis. Verse is a possible first round pick in the NFL Draft. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - Florida State defensive lineman Jared Verse speaks during the Atlantic Coast Conference NCAA college football media days Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. Verse is a possible first round pick in the NFL Draft. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco, File)
FILE - Duke quarterback Riley Leonard (13) is tackled by Florida State defensive lineman Jared Verse (5) after scrambling for yardage during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. Verse is a possible first round pick in the NFL Draft. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
“Filling up his role, that’s a hard role to fill,” Verse said on a video call from Phoenix, where he was watching the draft with family and friends. “That’s big shoes to fill. That’s an out-of-this-world player. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime, Hall of Famer, future Hall of Famer.
“That’s one of the best players to ever live. But to be able to be in the position where they expect me to be able to come in there and be able to fill that role, that’s something I’m ready for.”
Verse had two productive seasons for the Seminoles, finishing with 18 sacks and 29 1/2 tackles for loss in 25 games. He was a second-team All-American last season after choosing to return for his junior campaign, helping Florida State win its first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 2014.
“Might have gone about where he went tonight last year, but he decided to stay,” Rams general manager Les Snead said. “He's one of those guys that you just want to watch another game on because you can tell he cares about football. He has fun playing football. And, oh by the way, he's pretty disruptive, violent.”
The 23-year-old Verse started his career at FCS-level Albany, where he worked delivery jobs to help finance his education.
His coach playing for the Great Danes was Greg Gattuso, who was Donald’s position coach at Pittsburgh. Verse got to ask Donald about rushing the passer during a video call during the COVID-19 pandemic, something that helped set the stage for Verse’s outstanding college career.
“I asked him a couple questions that actually helped me elevate my game,” Verse said. “He said you don’t need a huge arsenal of moves. If you have a couple of good moves and execute them to the highest level of your ability, you will destroy everyone.”
Donald retired in March. The three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year and eight-time first-team All-Pro had been the centerpiece of the Rams’ defense since their return to Los Angeles in 2016.
The Rams started the process of overhauling their defensive front last year, taking outside linebacker Byron Young and defensive tackle Kobie Turner in the third round. Young and Turner combined for 17 sacks and 16 tackles for loss as rookies, and Turner finished third in defensive rookie of the year voting. But the pair benefited from the presence of Donald, who had eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss in his 10th and final season.
Verse, who is 6-foot-3 and 254 pounds, is confident the energy and emotion he will bring can help offset the absence of Donald.
“I come in with a lot of physical traits, I come in with a chip on my shoulder, and and that chip’s gonna continue,” Verse said. “I’m hungry for this.”
Verse was the Rams’ first first-round pick since the team traded up to select quarterback Jared Goff first overall in 2016. Sean McVay became Los Angeles’ coach the following year.
The Rams included their 2017 selection in the deal with Tennessee that allowed them to take Goff. The next year, Los Angeles sent its top pick to New England to acquire wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The Rams traded out of the first round in 2019, moving back in a deal with Atlanta.
The Rams’ 2020 and 2021 first-rounders went to Jacksonville in a trade for defensive back Jalen Ramsey. Their 2022 and 2023 picks went to Detroit in the move that landed quarterback Matthew Stafford.
All that wheeling and dealing helped Los Angeles reach the Super Bowl after the 2018 season and win the Lombardi Trophy in its home stadium three years later. Snead wore a T-shirt during the Rams’ Super Bowl parade that profanely mocked critics who suggested he should hold onto more draft picks.
McVay has had significant influence over the selections the Rams did make in that span, using their first pick on an offensive player in six of the past seven drafts. There was plenty of conjecture they would do that again, especially after a post on Reddit claimed to have inside information that Los Angeles would move up to draft an offensive tackle. The post was brought to Snead's attention.
Verse, however, was too good to pass up.
“Told you guys we weren't gonna go offense,” a smiling McVay said.
“We're never gonna ask anybody to replace Aaron, but you do want to continue to build the front,” McVay added. “And Jared represented an opportunity to do that.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Fans react Thursday, April 25, 2025, in Hermosa Beach, Calif., as the Los Angeles Rams picked Florida State defensive end Jared Verse in the first round of the NFL football draft in Detroit. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)
Fans react Thursday, April 25, 2025, in Hermosa Beach, Calif., as the Los Angeles Rams picked Florida State defensive end Jared Verse in the first round of the NFL football draft in Detroit. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)
FILE - Florida State defensive lineman Jared Verse runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Indianapolis. Verse is a possible first round pick in the NFL Draft. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - Florida State defensive lineman Jared Verse speaks during the Atlantic Coast Conference NCAA college football media days Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. Verse is a possible first round pick in the NFL Draft. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco, File)
FILE - Duke quarterback Riley Leonard (13) is tackled by Florida State defensive lineman Jared Verse (5) after scrambling for yardage during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. Verse is a possible first round pick in the NFL Draft. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The prestigious Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism was awarded Monday to ProPublica for its “groundbreaking” reporting that revealed how billionaires wooed Supreme Court justices with gifts and travel, and The Associated Press was honored in the feature photography category for its coverage of immigration to the U.S. through Latin America.
The public service award honored the work of ProPublica's Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Alex Mierjeski and Kirsten Berg.
AP's photos were taken across Latin America and along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and California in a year when immigration was one of the biggest stories in the world. The award honored 15 photos by AP staffers Greg Bull, Eric Gay, Fernando Llano, Marco Ugarte and Eduardo Verdugo, and longtime AP freelancers Christian Chavez, Felix Marquez and Ivan Valencia.
Along with honoring winners and finalists in 15 journalism categories, the Pulitzer Board also recognizes distinguished work in areas including books, music and theater.
The prizes, established in the will of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, are administered by Columbia University in New York.
The prizes are administered by Columbia University in New York, which itself has been in the news for student demonstrations against the war in Gaza. The Pulitzer board met away from Columbia this past weekend to deliberate on its winners.
The board issued a statement Thursday saluting student journalists at Columbia and other universities across the country for their work covering the campus demonstrations.
For the first time, the Pulitzers opened eligibility to broadcast and audio companies that also operate digital news sites, such as CNN, NPR and the broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC. The work must be primarily in digital journalism, however.
The Columbia Journalism School also administers the duPont-Columbia Awards, which recognize audio and visual journalism and are presented in the winter.
The Pulitzers give out cash awards and a medal for its prestigious public service prize, won last year by The Associated Press for its coverage of the Russian siege of Mariupol in Ukraine.
David Bauder writes about media for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.
Venezuelan migrants wave a U.S. flag at a television helicopter that flew over the Rio Grande, in Matamoros, Mexico, Friday, May 12, 2023, a day after pandemic-related asylum restrictions called Title 42 were lifted. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A woman carries her child after she and other migrants crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico, to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Migrants cross the Rio Grande river into the United States from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, March 29, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
A group of migrants sleep in a makeshift campsite as they wait to apply for asylum after crossing the border, Wednesday, May 10, 2023, near Jacumba, Calif. The group had been camping just across the border for days, waiting to apply for asylum in the United States. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Migrants cross the Rio Bravo on an inflatable mattress into the United States from Matamoros, Mexico, on May 9, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Migrants who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico pass under concertina wire along the Rio Grande river, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A Venezuelan migrant stands covered in a wrap while texting, on the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico, Saturday, May 13, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Migrants travel inside train cars of a northbound freight train, in Irapuato, Mexico, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Migrants, mainly from Central America, who were traveling to the U.S. inside a tractor-trailer, are detained by Mexican immigration agents and National Guard members, in Veracruz, Mexico, Sunday, July 23, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
A Venezuelan migrant laughs as she jokes with her husband, who gave her a few flowers he picked in the grass, as they wait along the rail lines in hopes of boarding a freight train heading north in Huehuetoca, Mexico, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Migrants walk across the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama in hopes of reaching the U.S., Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Haitian migrants wade through water as they cross the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama in hopes of reaching the U.S., Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Migrants planning to start walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama in hopes of reaching the U.S. gather at the trailhead camp in Acandi, Colombia, Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Migrants sit under a sign marking the Panama-Colombia border during their trek across the Darien Gap, Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Migrants reach through a border wall for clothing handed out by volunteers as they wait between two border walls to apply for asylum Friday, May 12, 2023, in San Diego. Hundreds of migrants remain waiting between the two walls, many for days. The image was part of a series by Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
FILE - Signage for The Pulitzer Prizes appear at Columbia University, May 28, 2019, in New York. Pulitzer Prizes are due to be announced on Monday, May 6, 2024, traditionally the most-anticipated day of the year for those hoping to earn print journalism's most prestigious honor. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
