Aaron Donald now has some company in the NFC West as a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. J.J. Watt, who has also won the coveted award three times, is now a member of the Cardinals after signing with the Rams’ division rival following his release from the Texans.
Donald and Watt are two of the best defensive linemen of this generation, surefire Hall of Famers for their respective dominance up front. The only other player to win Defensive Player of the Year three times is Lawrence Taylor, who’s rightfully in the Hall of Fame himself.
Donald and Watt have something else in common, too. In 2014, Watt recorded 119 total pressures en route to his second Defensive Player of the Year honor – the most ever recorded by Pro Football Focus. Four years later, Donald became the only other player to top 100 pressures in a season with 113, nearly matching Watt’s single-season record.
JJ Watt holds the all-time single-season record for total pressures with 119 (2014).
Only he and Aaron Donald have ever topped 100 pic.twitter.com/TiAULwDbKl
— PFF (@PFF) March 5, 2021
Donald is unquestionably the best interior pass rusher in the game right now, and maybe the best pass rusher period. The fact that he can generate as much pressure as he does from the defensive tackle position is incredible.
But Watt, even going on 32 years old, can still be a consistently disruptive force at defensive end. Last season, he had 17 QB hits and the year prior, he had 21 in just eight games.
It’ll be fun to watch these two on the same field twice a year now that they’re in the same division.