There was no player more dominant over the course of his career than Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald. The Pittsburgh native came out of the gates hot in his rookie season with nine sacks in 2014, which earned him his first Pro Bowl selection and the Defensive Rookie of the Year honors by the Associated Press. He backed that up with 10-straight years making the Pro Bowl and eight AP first-team All-Pro honors, as well as being the Defensive Player of the Year three times in 2017, ’18, and ’20. With the future first-ballot Hall of Famer retiring after 10 seasons, Chris Long asked him on the Green Light podcast who is the next Aaron Donald.
“If you wanna say the next guy, that’s that defensive player, I would say right now it’s T.J. Watt,” Donald said. “I think if you’re talking about a guy that’s consistent, been doing it year in, year out consistently, that’s gonna get you 15 sacks, 13 sacks, 22 sacks consistent, he’s the guy that been doing it consistently.”
Watt has only been named Defensive Player of the Year once in 2021 but was close on two other occasions in 2023 and 2020. Since he entered the league, no player has more sacks than Watt’s 96.5 in the regular season. He has been the model of consistency, much like Donald was.
In one of Donald’s post-retirement interviews last month, he stated that Watt has been snubbed a couple times for the award.
“I felt like he should’ve won a couple more Defensive Player [of the Year Awards], he kind of got snubbed a couple times, I ain’t gonna lie,” Donald said in an interview on the Rams’ website.
This last year, Watt narrowly lost to Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett despite besting him in nearly every statistical category. Both players are great, but Watt’s impact was very much in line with what is normally good enough to take home the award.
He finished the 2023 season with 68 total tackles, 48 solo tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 36 QB hits, 19 sacks, four forced fumbles, an interception, and one defensive touchdown.
“Interceptions every year, touchdowns, like his stats be ridiculous every single year,” Donald said. “So I feel like he’s that guy to me. I know you got Micah Parsons that’s coming up, you got Myles Garrett, you got a bunch of good players. But in my opinion, from the first time I seen him to the last year, he’s consistently been dominating in this league.”
That is extremely high praise coming from someone like Donald. And the proof is in the Steelers’ record when Watt is and isn’t available to play. The Steelers are 1-11, including the Wild Card Round playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills last January. His impact on the team is obvious, just like Donald’s was for all those years with the Rams.
