PFF: Bears should keep a close eye on FSU’s Jared Verse for 2024 NFL Draft

Chicago Bears fans hope that GM Ryan Poles has another trick or two up his sleeve before training camp begins. The team’s need for an established edge rusher has players like Yannick Ngakoue on everyone’s shortlist. But the business side of football is tricky, and there may not be a meeting of the minds between Poles and the veteran free agents.

Disappointing? Sure. But the Bears won’t have to wait long after the 2023 season concludes to power up their pass rush.

The 2024 NFL Draft will offer several quality defensive line and edge prospects who should be in striking distance for the Bears in the first round.

FSU’s Jared Verse is among the elite defenders in 2024 NFL draft

Florida State’s Jared Verse shocked NFL Draft media before the 2023 draft when he announced he was returning to the Seminoles for another season. Viewed as a lock first-round pick, Verse can emerge as a top-15 prospect in 2024.

According to Pro Football Focus, he’s the guy Poles and the Chicago Bears should keep an eye on this year.

“Armed with two first-round picks next year, Carolina’s and their own, the Bears should be in a perfect position to select Jared Verse from Florida State,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman wrote. “Verse is currently the top-rated edge rusher on PFF’s 2024 Big Board. He posted an 87.4 pass-rush grade and nine sacks in his first season as a transfer from Albany. Verse is explosive off the edge and likely would have been a first-round pick in the 2023 draft. He’ll be a prime target for Chicago in the quest to fill the team’s biggest roster hole.”

Bears must get by with current cast of pass rushers in 2023

If the Chicago Bears don’t add a veteran to the roster before training camp, they’ll be forced to rely on Trevis Gipson, Dominque Robinson, and Rasheem Green as their primary edge rushers. DeMarcus Walker offers upside as an interior rusher.

Even the most diehard Bears fan knows there’s reason to worry about the team’s lack of established sack production. Poles knows it too. But if he has an eye toward the future, he also understands he can change that in the 2024 NFL draft.

The odds Chicago signs a veteran are still high. But don’t panic if they don’t. The Bears are still a year away from a serious playoff run, and players like Jared Verse could provide the final surge of missing talent.