Aaron Donald has long been a player who has earned the respect of his peers throughout his legendary career with the Los Angeles Rams. Even at 32 years old, Donald received the second-most votes for best player in the NFL in The Athletic’s first anonymous player poll.
Patrick Mahomes led the way with 46.4 percent of the first-place votes among 84 players who responded. While 13.1 percent of the players voted on other players, Donald received 8.9 percent of the votes.
Who do NFL players think is the best among them?
“Don’t you have to say him?” Yeah, of course it’s Patrick Mahomes. But quite a few defensive lineman earn honors.
Read more in our anonymous player poll: https://t.co/5PxkG9DgSQ pic.twitter.com/JUvuoNDwqO
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 21, 2023
Some may not consider Donald as dominant as he once was, but the All-Pro interior defender is still playing at an elite level. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year leads the Rams in total pressures (47), tackles for loss (12), and sacks (5.5) this season despite being double-teamed often.
Among all pass rushers, Donald has the 12th-most pressures in the NFL, according to PFF. In Sunday’s come-from-behind victory over the Seattle Seahawks, Donald wreaked havoc, tallying seven pressures, four quarterback hurries, and a season-high three quarterback hits.
Donald is in the discussion of being the best defensive player in NFL history and he’ll be a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. And even this late in his career, players around the league still know just how special of a player Donald is.