Is Aaron Donald headed toward GOAT status?

doubledragon

Do you think Aaron Donald is eventually going to be the greatest defensive player of all time? Here is an article written 6 days ago discussing that subject. I apologize for starting so many threads, but sports really is a fascinating subject.

AARON DONALD CHASING BOTH SUPER BOWL WIN AND GOAT STATUS

Aaron Donald's GOAT case has plenty of substantial backing behind it.

The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has seven straight first-team All-Pro nods and eight-straight Pro Bowl appearances to his name, and the Rams superstar is regularly listed amongst the best of the best when it comes to current defensive stalwarts (ever notice how much he's double-teamed?).

But does he need to win a Super Bowl to truly solidify his status as the greatest to ever do it?

For Shannon Sharpe, Donald has GOAT potential written all over him, even if he's not at the top of the totem pole quite yet.

"He's top five already," Sharpe said.

"I don't say that lightly. I played against Bruce Smith, Reggie White, [Lawrence Taylor], Deion Sanders. … Joe Burrow's going to have 99 problems and AD is it. There are certain guys, if you can't control them, you can't win. He's the real deal. Even if you don't know anything about football, you'll watch and say, ‘Who’s No. 99?'"

Shannon Sharpe weighs in on how close Aaron Donald is to being the best defensive player ever.

Donald's list of accolades is only continuing to grow.

Since he entered the league in 2014, he's No. 1 in sacks with 98, eight more than second place. He's No. 1 in tackles for loss –– 150 –– 36 more than the next closest, and he's No. 1 in QB hits with 226, 42 more than second place.

The 2021 campaign also marked the sixth season in which Donald was Pro Football Focus's highest-graded defender (93.6 grade), and he also cemented himself as L.A.'s all-time sacks leader this season, passing Leonard Little's 87.5 total.

Donald is the only player to record at least 11 sacks in each of the last five seasons.

Still, despite Donald's incredible run, Skip Bayless isn't sold on him as one of the greatest defenders in NFL history. In fact, he's completely against the mention of "Donald" and "GOAT" in the same sentence.

"I got to watch Lawrence Taylor and Charles Haley," Bayless said Wednesday on "Undisputed."

"Their motors ran a little hotter than Aaron's runs. Haley changed the Cowboys' lives. If you eye test them both, you're going to see more. In Aaron's defense, he gets pinned or double-teamed because he's on the inside, not an edge rusher. … He's very good, but I haven't seen [greatest ever] yet."

The fictional GOAT trophy is likely the furthest thing from Donald's mind this weekend.

But if he can host the Lombardi come Sunday, maybe the GOAT honor will join along in the process.

doubledragon

Oh, the t-shirts are already hitting the market, and rumor has it they're selling like hotcakes!

spacehayduke

Well he is about to surpass JJ who was on that list until injuries caught up with him. So if AD can stay injury free for a few more years, I would say yes.

Justacommeman

I haven't seen better

m

Hydrant

Possibility.

Hydrant

Bottom line......during the first 3 1/2 quarters he physically wears out 2 or 3 offensive linemen until they are completely winded and useless at the end......then he goes in for the kill at the end.....ask Jimmy G.,......ask Burrow.....they know.

doubledragon

I really miss watching LT, he was so disruptive, you couldn't let him get anywhere near your quarterback, all he needed was to get a finger on him.

erikthredd

Here are Aaron Donald's accomplishments stacked up next to Lawrence Taylor and Reggie White.

AARON DONALD


.
.
.
LAWRENCE TAYLOR


.
.
.
REGGIE WHITE

milbroco

I think Reggie White would be more of the defensive GOAT.

thisistheshow

@milbroco said:
I think Reggie White would be more of the defensive GOAT.

.........
I tend to agree here. I think that the Donald talk is just recency bias.

Gansetttime

Reggie White and LT were the two most dominant defense line/end players I have seen in my lifetime. Their stats came in a run dominated era, unlike today where passing is pretty much the way of the league today.

erikthredd

Right now Donald is tied for the most (3) DPOY trophies with JJ Watt and Lawrence Taylor. Then the group of Joe Greene,Mike Singletary,Bruce Smith,Reggie White and Ray Lewis each have won this award twice. I think if Donald doesn't retire,as some rumors are predicting, and plays another 5-6-7 years while adding on a couple more DPOY awards he'd have a very strong argument for DefGOAT. For that to happen though,IMO, he needs to separate himself from that grouping of great players.

erikthredd

He has quite a bit of catching up to do to get near the Career Sacks record. Bruce Smith has the most with 200 career sacks then Reggie White with 198 and Kevin Greene 3rd with 160 sacks. Aaron Donald currently is ranked 40th with 98 career sacks.

craig44

recency bias for sure. the 2 most disruptive forces I have ever seen when it comes to line play are White and LT.

I would rank LT a notch higher as he literally changed the way LB was played.

can you imagine the sacks those 2 would have put up had they played when QBs were dropping back 40 times a game instead of 25?

Justacommeman

Regarding sacks. Donald plays DT. White, Smith and Greene all played DE. All played on the outside. Big difference.

Donald is the most complete D Lineman and disrupter I've ever seen. Not even close IMHO.

m

galaxy27

what's so amazing to me about Donald is that if you simply gaze at him, he does not possess the look. he has always appeared undersized to me and that in itself is what i find to be so impressive, especially as an interior lineman. i always think, how in the world is this 6'1", 285 DT gonna consistently penetrate those road graders to get to the QB.

then the ball is snapped and all hell breaks loose