Heading into the 2025 season, the Los Angeles Rams had a few rookies looking to take that next step. While Jared Verse headlined that group, Braden Fiske was another player that the Rams hoped would continue to develop after a strong rookie season. However, through the first six weeks of the season, Fiske has experienced somewhat of a sophomore slump.
As a rookie, Fiske finished with 8.5 sacks, which led all rookie and looked to be a staple in the pass rush rotation. If Jared Verse, Byron Young, and Kobie Turner were the Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern of the Justice League, Fiske was the Flash.
Fiske finished his rookie season tied for sixth in Brandon Thorn’s “sack score” metric among interior defensive linemen, via the Trench Warfare Substack, which was the same as Turner. His 44.9 pass rush snaps per sack was better than Turner’s and ranked sixth among defensive linemen. He was also inside the top-50 among all defenders in ‘True Pressure Rate” and ranked 11th in total pressures. To put it simply, Fiske was one of the more productive pass rushers on the defensive line as a rookie.
That hasn’t necessarily been the case in year two. This isn’t to say that Fiske has underperformed. He may not have a sack through six weeks, but he still ranks inside the top-15 in win percentage via PFF. His 13.7 percent win-rate is actually higher than Turner’s 12.7 percent. The Rams currently have one of the best edge rusher duos in the NFL. With such strong edge rushers, the interior players aren’t necessarily getting the sacks, but are instead setting things up through the overall pass rush plan.
The same can be said in the run game. Fiske is always going to be somewhat of a liability in the run game because his wingspan is in the fifth percentile. However, Fiske has a stop-rate of six percent which is higher than Turner’s 5.2 percent.
It’s possible that Fiske has been disappointing simply because the expectations were high. He hasn’t regressed, but also hasn’t necessarily taken the step forward that some may have expected. Still, the Rams also knew what they were drafting here with Fiske. As a 24-year-old prospect, he was always going to have a lower ceiling. Because the Rams have invested so much in the defensive line, they don’t have to have three full-time players. Fiske always projected as a rotational player with versatility to move around the defensive line. It goes back to their current team-building philosophy of their role players having a high floor while their star players raise the overall ceiling.
Because the Rams have depth on the defensive line, they can field a near-full rotation of early-down run defenders and pass rush specialists. This allows them to put players in positions to succeed which is what they’ve done with Fiske throughout his career. With Poona Ford added to the mix, it has allowed the Rams to move Turner around more as well. The Rams are six players deep on the defensive line and each player has a specific role.
Another thing worth noting here is that Fiske has been managing an oblique injury from earlier this season. It limited him against the Tennessee Titans and held him under 40 percent of the defensive snaps against the Eagles. While his snap count has gradually increased to over 50 percent, it could be something that continues to linger and is somewhat affecting his level of play.
At the end of the day, we’re still just over one-third of the way through the NFL season. Even if Fiske has hit a bit of a sophomore slump, there is plenty of time after the bye week for him to get healthy and improve. Either way, while it may not be showing on the stat sheet, Fiske is executing his specific role on the defensive line and remains a big part of one of the more dominant groups in the NFL.
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