How good could he become?

Will Braden Fiske be the NFC’s breakout defensive player of 2025?

The Los Angeles Rams drafted last season’s Defensive Rookie of the Year when they picked Jared Verse in the first round, but it’s their second pick of 2024 who could end up being next season’s Defensive Player of the Year. Is Braden Fiske capable of being among the top defensive players in the NFL, if he isn’t already?

According to tracking shared by The 33rd Team, Fiske joined Byron Young and Kobie Turner as three of only five players in the NFL to post at least 8 sacks and 45 pressures during their rookie seasons.

• Fiske: 8.5 sacks, 51 pressures in 2024
• Young: 8 sacks, 50 pressures in 2023
• Turner: 9 sacks, 48 pressures in 2023

Adding Verse into the mix, L.A. has a defensive line unit that is far more talented than your average foursome on rookie contracts:

The 39th overall pick in the 2024 draft after the Rams traded their 2024 second round pick to move up for him, Fiske shocked many people by finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind his college, NFL teammate Verse.

Fiske had 44 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 10 TFL, 10 QB hits, 2 FF, and he played in 661 snaps.

Then in the playoffs, Fiske had 1.5 more sacks in two games.

That’s a total of 10 sacks in his first season, which is more than Aaron Donald’s rookie season.

Fiske had a rather strong combine performance in 2024, running a 4.78 40-yard dash at 292 lbs, just under a 10’ broad jump, 26 reps on the bench, and a 33.5” vertical. That made Fiske one of the most athletic defensive tackles in the history of the draft.

So it’s possible that Fiske has only scratched the surface with 8.5 sacks as a rookie.

Lining up next to Verse, Turner, and Young, there’s an even greater chance that Braden Fiske’s best days are ahead.

He didn’t win Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024, but Fiske is a sneaky “longshot” bet to win the NFL’s top defensive award in 2025.