With one-third of the regular season in the books, it's safe to say that Jared Verse hasn't lived up to the hype.
Numbers-wise, Cleveland Browns fans probably expected much more from the young two-time Pro Bowler they got in return for Myles Garrett.
However, this game goes way beyond the stats. Yes, watching Verse go six games without a sack is concerning, and it's the longest drought of his young career. But that's not the only way he can contribute to Mike Rutenberg's defense.
As underwhelming as he's been at finishing plays, Verse has stayed in front of quarterbacks on almost every dropback. More than that, he's been an absolute force against the run, and he showed it again in Cleveland's Week 6 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Jared Verse has been huge for the Cleveland Browns' run defense
Verse had three run stops in Week 6. He helped contain a human bulldozer in Derrick Henry and hold him to 58 yards on 17 carries, including a lost fumble. Verse also helped limit a mobile and elusive quarterback in Tyler Huntley to just 28 rushing yards on five scrambles.
Of course, that won't be enough to justify the trade. Garrett is a generational, once-in-a-lifetime player, even with his glaring deficiencies against the run. Verse will have to bump those sack and pressure numbers at some point.
That said, it just feels like people are making a big deal out of Verse's lack of sacks. The Browns have 19 sacks as a team, the second-most in the league behind the Detroit Lions. Eleven different players have recorded at least one sack for the Browns this season, with three players logging three-plus.
This is a big deal because Verse's name will always be tied to Garrett's, but it's not like he's just out there doing cardio. He didn't ask to be included in that deal, and it's unfair to judge him as if the Browns took him as a one-for-one player swap.
No one is Myles Garrett, and expecting Verse to register 15-plus sacks while transitioning to Cleveland's defense this season was probably never realistic. It's not that he's not capable of that, but because of the ridiculous standard set by No. 95.
At the end of the day, all that matters is that the Browns' defense is giving up the ninth-fewest passing yards per game (205.2), the seventh-fewest points per game (20.3), and they're sitting on a 4-2 record.
Verse has played a big role in that, even if the box-score production hasn't found its level yet.
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