Aaron Donald finished second in the NFL with 13.5 sacks, tied for second with 14 tackles for loss and fourth in QB hits this season, but his impact goes way beyond the box score. As a defensive tackle, he’s often double-teamed by opposing linemen, drawing centers, guards and tackles in his area when rushing the passer and trying to stop the run.
Consequently, that leaves other Rams defenders in one-on-one situations, which makes it that much easier for them to get after the quarterback. Leonard Floyd experienced that firsthand this season in his first year with the Rams.
Floyd finished with a career-high 10.5 sacks, as well as 11 tackles for loss and 19 QB hits. He was rarely doubled by opponents, as evidenced by this chart from Seth Walder of ESPN. Floyd won more than 10% of his pass-rush reps, but he was also doubled less than 15% of the time.
Double team rate as an edge (x) by pass rush win rate as an edge (y) for the 2020 regular season.
Plus, by request from @DaneBeavers, label colors indicate 2020 cap hit (red = high). pic.twitter.com/b0msKIdttg
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 20, 2021
Compare that chart to the one for defensive tackles and the difference is startling. Donald is in his own area in the upper-right corner, where no other defensive tackle resides. He was doubled almost 70% of the time this season but still won more than 20% of his pass rushes.
His high double-team rate and Floyd’s low number is what we call the “Aaron Donald effect.”
Aaron Donald is on his own planet.
Double team rate as a defensive tackle (x) by pass rush win rate as a defensive tackle (y), 2020 regular season.
(Y axis is overall PRWR, not just vs. double teams). pic.twitter.com/N0d8FAmih2
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 16, 2021
Floyd was much better as a pass rusher this season than in any of his previous four seasons with the Bears, but the impact of playing alongside Donald cannot be overlooked. It’s part of the reason Dante Fowler Jr. struggled this season after leaving the Rams to sign a big contract with the Falcons.
He recorded just three sacks (T-104), eight QB hits (T-117) and four tackles for loss (T-160) in 14 games with the Falcons, having very little impact in Atlanta. Those are similar numbers to Justin Hollins’ (three sacks, three TFL, 5 QB hits), and he’s making $14.3 million less per year.
Floyd could very well leave in free agency this offseason and sign a big-money deal elsewhere after earning $10 million for one year with the Rams, but he won’t find a team with Donald in the middle of its defensive line.
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