Scouting Jared Verse: Florida State edge rusher similar to four-time Pro Bowler

NFL.com analyst and former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah takes a "first look" at some of college football's top players for 2023. This is the first in a series of scouting reports that will run in July.

Five years ago, Jared Verse was a high school tight end with no FBS scholarship offers.

Verse began his college career at FCS Albany (New York), moving to the defensive line. He redshirted in 2019 before becoming one of the most highly touted transfer prospects in the nation thanks to his breakout performance in the spring 2021 and fall 2021 seasons (the team did not play in fall 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns).

His success translated to the FBS, as he earned first-team All-ACC honors in 2022, his first season with Florida State. In fact, I was shocked when Verse elected to stay in school and passed on declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft last January. I studied his tape last fall and assumed he would head to the NFL because he was playing at such a high level at a premium position. I respect that he felt he had unfinished business at FSU, and I expect him to be one of the most dominant players in the country this season.

I wanted to get a fresh look at his tape this summer. Now that I've had a chance to go back and study three of Verse's game tapes from the 2022 season, here is my initial scouting report.

Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 253 pounds (school measurements).

2022 statistics (12 games played; nine starts): 48 tackles, including 17 for loss with nine sacks, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick.

Game tape watched: vs. LSU (Sept. 4, 2022), at Miami (Nov. 5, 2022), at Syracuse (Nov. 12, 2022) and all nine sacks.

What I liked: It didn't take more than 10 plays into my study to realize Verse has some very intriguing traits.

His