Could Aaron Donald's career stats and body of work propel him to the title of NFL's best defensive player of all time?
Any player to ever step on a football field has had some sort of weakness to their game; even the likes of Tom Brady and Deion Sanders. That's because no player is perfect; at least that's what we thought until Aaron Donald came along.
Envision a player who's spent eight full seasons in the NFL, with eight Pro Bowl appearances to show for it.
Let's say this player earned the title of Rookie of the Year for his respective side of the ball to start with, and then went on to earn seven first-team All-Pro honors in a row. Don't forget the three Defensive Player of the Year awards either.
That player, of course, is Aaron Donald.
Aaron Donald's career stats since entering the National Football League are truly unheard of. It's not only the 103 sacks he has since 2014, or the 160 tackles he's recorded in the backfield - both of which are league-high numbers during this timeframe - but he's completely changed how we view the defensive tackle position.
And as of this calendar year, the Los Angeles Rams star has a Super Bowl ring to show for his efforts, in a game that he himself called time on.
Aaron Donald with the Super Bowl championship-sealing play for the Los Angeles Rams! 🏈💪 https://t.co/Shutm7L86y
These are just a few markers that make the seven-time First-Team All-Pro so relevant to the league's history.
Donald has stuffed the stat sheet in every way, but the things that are most impressive about his play don't show up on the box score.
Not only does Donald face more double-teams than any pass rusher in the NFL, but he's somehow able to consistently beat them.
This chart from the 2021 season via ESPN and Next Gen Stats paints an accurate picture.
Double team rate (x) by pass rush win rate (y), regardless of where players line up.
2021 regular season. Top 50 PRWR players shown.
(ESPN / NFL Next Gen Stats) https://t.co/7OsnokOa8R
This is an every-year thing, too.
Whether it's 2021 or 2016, Donald's whereabouts on the chart remain identical. It's no surprise that some outlets have referred to him as the best player in football for multiple years now.
Following the 2021 season, Pro Football Focus ranked Aaron Donald as the top player in the league, just as they've done every year since the 2015 season. Bear in mind, this was only his second season as a pro - and the outlet has crowned him the best player league-wide each passing year since.
We're talking about a player who was good enough to be crowned the best in the business after only two years in the league, and one that hasn't relinquished the crown just yet.
This, however, is only the surface of Aaron Donald's greatness.
Aaron Donald's career stats trump all-time greats' numbers
Piling up seven first-team All-Pro honors is no small feat. In fact, that number is the highest among all active players in the league, landing just three away from tying the NFL record held by Jim Otto and Jerry Rice.
More impressively, these seven have come consecutively; a feat neither Otto nor Rice accomplished despite co-owning the record for most first-team All-Pros.
Then, there are his three DPOY awards, tied for the record of the most any player has ever earned.
It isn't just that Donald has won the award on three occasions, but that he's always in the running for it. Through his eight full NFL seasons, Donald has received at least one vote for the award seven times; more times than any player in league history.
This means the 2014 first-round draft pick has received at least one vote for DPOY each season outside of his rookie year.
If all this wasn't enough, Aaron Donald is always available.
Since he was drafted, Donald has missed only two contests, both coming in the 2017 season. And guess what; he still took home the Defensive Player of the Year award.
To date, this percentage of availability tops each and every one of the most prestigious defensive players to ever lace 'em up. It doesn't matter if we're talking Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Ed Reed or Ray Lewis; Donald has missed fewer games than all.
That statement remains true even if we're only counting up to age 31 - the age Aaron Donald currently is.
And of course, the latter half of the above sentence is the cherry on top. We're talking about a player who's only 31 years old, yet has accomplished everything listed.
So, yes; Aaron Donald's career stats and body of work could absolutely propel him to the honor of the NFL's best defensive player of all time.
The reality is, he may already be qualified to claim that title - and there's still a whole lot of career left.