Braden Fiske may have started his college career with Jared Verse, but he will continue his Rams career with Byron Young.
The third-year defensive end had a perfect start to his NFL career in 2024, totaling 8.5 sacks and finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind Verse and Quinyon Mitchell. It’s exactly the type of season that Les Snead was praying for when he traded a 2025 second round pick to move up for Fiske in 2024.
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However, it was two steps forward and one step back for Fiske in 2025.
Fiske’s 2025 and 2026 outlook
It’s not that stats tell the full picture of a player’s season or arc, but Fiske played fewer snaps, had fewer sacks (3.5), fewer tackles for a loss (dropped from 10 to 4), and the same number of QB hits. He then rebounded with two sacks and three tackles for a loss in three playoff games.
Since trading Verse to the Browns for Myles Garrett, the Rams now turn back to Fiske as one of their key defensive cornerstones moving forward, alongside the likes of Young, Kobie Turner, and others. But is Fiske “more important” than Young next season?
In the final part of part one of The Tournament of Rampions, we face off between Young and Fiske. Who is more important for 2026?
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Fiske is carrying a heavy burden of being on the first line of run defense with Poona Ford and Turner. The backups at that position are possibly less reliable than the ones on the edge.
However, Byron Young had 12 sacks last season and is now playing opposite of Garrett. Does that assignment opposite of Garrett make Young more valuable…or less valuable? In any case, Fiske is looking for a rebound. Young is looking to build on his breakout.
Vote in the poll above to have your voice heard on who should advance to the sweet-16.
Get the full breakdown of the two 12-player brackets (offense and defense) here.
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Previous voting results:
We have just one more matchup to go before the final-16.
A former undrafted free agent out of Washington, Shelton worked his way up from back in 2019 to starter in 2022. The Rams gave him two seasons on the job before letting him leave to sign with the Bears in 2024, where he started all 17 games.
Perhaps more impressed with Shelton after they got a look at Beaux Limmer for a full season, the Rams re-signed him in 2025 and they’ve at least been happy enough to not bring in any competition at center.
Shelton will start in 2026, backed up by Limmer and Wyatt Bowles, with perhaps some competition there in training camp.
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On the other hand, the Rams did bring in competition for McClendon despite a breakout season in 2025.
Although Keagan Trost is not expected to unseat McClendon in 2026, the Rams drafted a tackle in the third round. They are preparing for a 2027 free agency period that is set to feature four starting offensive linemen on the team, including McClendon, Shelton, Steve Avila, and Kevin Dotson.
McClendon could be the odd one out.
Still only 25, McClendon could also end up having a career-year in 2026 and make it impossible for the Rams to move on, perhaps moving Trost into a role at guard or left tackle.
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Who is more important next season: the starting center or the starting right tackle?
When everyone is done voting, I’ll unveiling the final brackets for offense and defense:
8 on offense, 8 on defense. Then when we get through 2 more rounds, we’ll combine the two brackets into the final eight.
Who is must-in and who is not?
