Texas offers Albany DE transfer Jared Verse

On Monday, the Texas Longhorns extended an offer to Albany Great Danes defensive end Jared Verse.

A 6’4, 247-pounder, Verse is a Pennsylvania native who played on both sides of the ball in high school in addition to playing basketball and running track. Verse had a breakout season at Albany in 2021, earning CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year honors after recording 22 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and four sacks. He redshirted during the 2019 season and has two seasons of eligibility remaining, as well as a year he could use due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Offerings:

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One of the hottest commodities on the transfer market after entering the portal in late November, Verse has taken visits to Syracuse, Houston, Florida State, and Tennessee already, but the offers keep pouring in. During recent days, LSU, Florida, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, USC, Miami, and Auburn have all offered, joining programs like Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Utah.

It’s too early to say whether Verse has interest in the Longhorns, but after recording only 20 total sacks in 2021, Texas is in clear need at the edge position and can offer early playing time without a lot of proven competition — Notre Dame transfer Ovie Oghoufo recently announced his return after recording two sacks in his first season on the Forty Acres, but struggled at times against the run and wasn’t overly productive as a pass rusher.

Alabama transfer Ben Davis led the team in sacks with 2.5 before exhausting his eligibility.

Verse primarily flashes as an edge rusher with speed-to-power moves or straight bull-rushes, so he doesn’t necessarily project as a guy who can beat tackles with his pure speed alone, but he’s strong and effective working his hands and displacing opponents to get to the quarterback. He’s also powerful enough that he could play a true defensive end role, though he doesn’t quite have the mass to play at the 4i position in an odd front, a look that defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski does employ at times.

The offer list for Verse provides plenty of indication about how major programs view his ability to transition to a higher level of competition and at the least, he would provide some proven experience for Texas at a position of need.

Now the Longhorns need to get him on campus so the staff can make their pitch in person.