Each offseason during the NFL doldrums, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler conducts a poll of anonymous league scouts and executives to craft a list of the top 10 players at every major position. On Wednesday, he released his findings at pass rusher, and fans of the Cleveland Browns should be encouraged.
New addition Jared Verse, the centerpiece of Cleveland’s June 1 trade that sent Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, did not crack this year’s top 10, as he did in this same exercise in 2025. He was edged out by rising Denver Broncos edge Nik Bonitto.
Verse was listed as the top honorable mention on ESPN’s list, and while that may seem like a downgrade at first glance, the scouting report Fowler uncovered paints the real picture: The Browns acquired one of the NFL’s unquestioned young stars who's barely scratching the surface of what he could become in Cleveland.
"Love Verse, but some of the other rushers higher than him have more variety, whereas Verse is all power at times,” an AFC exec said, via Fowler. “But he's only going to get better and have a great career. He's a beast."
Jared Verse's biggest weakness is exactly what Browns fans should want to hear
When GM Andrew Berry agreed to trade the NFL’s most dominant pass rusher, he did so with one thing in mind: leveraging the future.
The Browns didn’t need a finished product in return. If they felt they were in a championship window, which was the original plan when they went all-in on quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022, Garrett would still be on the roster.
The value they received from the Rams was substantial, but Garrett is a unicorn still firmly in his prime. He wasn’t only No. 1 on Fowler’s list on Wednesday — he was No. 1 on every ballot.
When you factor in Garrett’s extremely team-friendly contract in the NFL’s exploding pass rusher market, it would be impossible to defend trading Garrett without a player like Verse coming back in the deal. He’s only 25. He’s still in the middle of his rookie contract. And while he’s already earned NFL Rookie of the Year and a pair of Pro Bowls in two NFL seasons, no one really knows how good he could be once he builds out a more complete pass-rushing repertoire.
To Berry’s credit, the Garrett trade has aged surprisingly well. Browns fans knew the day would come, but there was an expectation that the sky would fall in Northeast Ohio when it did.
Zooming in on a Browns team packed with players aged 25 and under (54, to be exact, on their 90-man training camp roster), the move makes all the sense in the world. Cleveland had the known commodity in Garrett. What they have now is the dawn of a new era — with Verse on the front lines ready to take them there.
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