Browns CB Denzel Ward admits the big difference between Jared Verse and Myles Garrett — and it’s exactly what Cleveland needs
Denzel Ward said the quiet part out loud regarding the difference between Jared Verse and Myles Garrett. The difference just happens to be exactly what the Browns need right now with where they are at.
The Cleveland Browns trading Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams was the biggest move the franchise has made outside of the Deshaun Watson trade.
Moving Garrett came with positives and negatives, and there’s a while to go until the Browns know what the deal will look like long term. In return, Cleveland landed pass rusher Jared Verse, one of the top up and coming pass rushers in the NFL.
The negatives from trading Garrett are easy to spot. The Browns lost an All-Pro player who might be the best ever at rushing the passer, and Garrett was coming off a 23-sack season. Players like that don’t come around often.
Verse is a good pass rusher, but he isn’t as elite as Garrett. He’s not going to put up the kind of numbers Garrett has put up over his career. Still, he brings something Garrett didn’t, and it’s something Cleveland badly needed.
Denzel Ward explains the difference between Jared Verse and Myles Garrett
Browns Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward recently spoke about the difference between the two pass rushers. His answer points straight to what Verse has added to the locker room.
“Definitely a lot of juice and just mentality as well,” Ward stated via PFF’s NFL Show. “Myles is a heck of a player, great player, but I think Jared, he’s more vocal though. More of a vocal player, vocal leader. I mean really since the first day he stepped in the building, just yelling and screaming, just making his mark out there in meetings and on the practice field kind of rallying guys.”
Garrett was an All-Pro level player much of his time in Cleveland. Despite that, he was never the kind of vocal leader that Browns fans wanted him to be. As the top player on the team, it’s a role Garrett needed to fill, but he just wasn’t that kind of guy.
Verse is that kind of guy. Ward’s comments aren’t a shot at Garrett or anything like that. Garrett is who he is, a great player who isn’t a great leader. Verse brings a different energy, and his teammates have taken notice since day one.
Jared Verse’s production hasn’t caught up yet
The production side of things is where Verse has to pick it up. Through the first four games, Verse doesn’t have a sack and has just seven pressures. That isn’t what anyone expected from the centerpiece of a Garrett trade, to be frank.
Still, his presence has been felt big time by this Browns team. He’s been the kind of leader this defense needs, and that does mean something in this league. Leadership doesn’t show up in the box score, but players notice it in meetings and on the practice field, and Ward made that clear.
It won’t be easy for Verse to fill those shoes. Anyone stepping in for Garrett was going to face that pressure simply because of the trade. Coming in as the return for a generational pass rusher puts a spotlight on every snap.
Cleveland does need Verse to get going on the stat sheet. The leadership is a big piece, but the Browns made this deal expecting him to get after the quarterback, too.
If Verse starts producing, and you add in the draft capital Cleveland got from the Rams in the Garrett trade, the Browns are going to feel pretty good about this move.
The next few weeks will be telling around what Verse is going to be this season. If the sacks start coming, the Garrett trade could end up looking a lot better for the Browns than it did on the day it happened.
