There aren’t words remaining in the dictionary that would be able to describe how dominant Aaron Donald has been in the NFL. Even in his age-30 season in 2021, Donald proved once again that he’s the best defensive player in the NFL.
Following another remarkable campaign by the All-Pro interior defender, PFF revealed that Donald was the highest-graded defender in the league this season, making it six straight years where he’s held that title.
The highest-graded defender by season since 2016:
🐏 2016 Aaron Donald – 92.6
🐏 2017 Aaron Donald – 94.4
🐏 2018 Aaron Donald – 94.8
🐏 2019 Aaron Donald – 93.6
🐏 2020 Aaron Donald – 94.2
🐏 2021 Aaron Donald – 93.6📸: @AaronDonald97 pic.twitter.com/Oaxx9v4tmk
— PFF (@PFF) January 12, 2022
Donald notched 12.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles in 17 games for the Rams this season. The veteran interior defender has now gone five consecutive seasons where he’s recorded 11-plus sacks.
Regardless of who the Rams play each week, the opposing team’s first thought is to figure out a way to slow down Donald. Even with opponentd double-teaming — or even triple-teaming — him, Donald still finds ways to make his presence felt in each game.
What we’re witnessing right now from Donald is truly historic. There haven’t been many defenders as dominant as Donald throughout the history of the NFL, or ones who have shown the consistency he has over the years.
While Donald is unlikely to be awarded his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award this season, PFF understands that Donald deserves some recognition for his efforts. At the same time, their grading system definitely knows what it’s doing when it comes to grading Donald.