Two-way players are still very rare in the NFL. Only Travis Hunter of the Jacksonville Jaguars does it, and he still doesn’t play a lot of defense relative to his offensive snaps. The reasons are simple: Why open yourself up to more injury possibilities, especially if you’re one of your team’s best places?
But it’s still fun to speculate, and the Los Angeles Rams have at least one player who could play both sides of the ball: Edge rusher Jared Verse. ESPN picked Verse as the Rams’ most likely two-way player because of his history (he played receiver in high school) and he’s even mentioned wanting to try out some snaps at tight end.
Rams receiver Puka Nacua even told ESPN he’d like to see Verse play some tight end: “I think that would be interesting to see. I think we could put him in some motions and put a lot of defenses in some trouble.”
Edge rushers playing offensive snaps isn’t unheard of, either. They mostly play in red zone situations, though. Former New England Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, for instance, has 10 career touchdown receptions. Former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals edge rusher J.J. Watt has three career touchdown receptions.
Verse is a little too important to Chris Shula’s defense to see snaps on offense, but in some situations, the Rams may try him out and see what he can do.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Which Rams play could play offense and defense?
Reporting by Tyler Greenawalt, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
