great former Rams

The best players at every defensive position since 2000 🐐 pic.twitter.com/erzC37Eekd

— PFF (@PFF) May 19, 2025

The Hall of Fame sends happy birthday wishes to Rams Legend Jackie Slater! The Class of 2001 member turns 71 today. 🎉🎂 #HBD pic.twitter.com/sXUbIIH49S

— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) May 27, 2025

from NFL All Quarter Century team: Best 53-man roster, coaches: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45042048/nfl-best-all-quarter-century-team-25-years-tom-brady-randy-moss-ray-lewis

This team includes 25 offensive players, 23 defensive players and five special teams players. For another wrinkle, we filled out a full “practice squad” with the players who just missed the cut and listed them in their respective position groups. We followed current NFL practice squad rules, which includes 17 players if one was brought in from the International Player Pathway Program. Finally, we also needed an elite coaching staff to get the most out of this quarter-century team, so we picked a head coach and three coordinators.

…

Aaron Donald
Teams: Rams (2014-23)
Résumé since 2000: 111 sacks, 24 forced fumbles, one-time Super Bowl champion, three-time DPOY, eight-time All-Pro

Donald is certainly the greatest defensive tackle of the past 25 years and possibly the greatest in NFL history. His 20.5 sacks in 2018 set a single-season record for a primary defensive tackle, while his career total is second among defensive tackles (since 1982) behind John Randle’s 137.5.

Bobby Wagner
Teams: Seahawks (2012-21, 2023), Rams (2022), Commanders (2024-present)
Résumé since 2000: 35 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 13 interceptions, one-time Super Bowl champion, 11-time All-Pro

Wagner has the same number of first-team All-Pro selections as Lewis (seven), which is more than any other linebacker since 2000. His 10 Pro Bowl selections don’t even include the year he finished second in the Defensive Rookie of the Year balloting (2012) or the year he helped lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl win (2013). Wagner also led the NFL in tackles three times. Since 2000, only London Fletcher has more tackles than Wagner’s 1,838. — Schatz

Wade Phillips, defensive coordinator

Phillips not only has a record of coordinating strong defenses at multiple stops; he also has a great record of improving those defenses. He took the Falcons’ defense from 24th in DVOA in 2001 to 10th in 2002. He took the Chargers’ defense from 28th in 2003 to ninth in 2004. He took the Texans’ defense — with some help from rookie J.J. Watt, of course — from 30th in 2010 to eighth in 2011. Then he took the Broncos to No. 1 in defensive DVOA in both 2015 and 2016, with a Super Bowl championship.

Including Phillips’ stops as a head coach (Bills and Cowboys), his defenses have ranked in the top half of the league in 15 of 18 seasons since 2000. — Schatz

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

Defenders rule the latest tier of NFL Daily's Top 25 Players of the Last 25 Years 🏈@greggrosenthal & play-by-play broadcasting legend Kevin Harlan discuss the legacy of these four superstars:
🎙️https://t.co/SjoycOTnKg pic.twitter.com/VaVhBjfTqw

— NFL Podcasts (@NFL_Podcasts) July 11, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by broadcasting legend Kevin Harlan to reveal numbers 7 through 4 of NFL Daily’s Top 25 Players of the Last 25 Years. Gregg and Kevin kick off this tier of players with Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Ed Reed at number 7 (01:42), quarterback Aaron Rodgers at number 6 (16:30), defensive end J.J. Watt at number 5 (38:03), and wrap the show with defensive lineman Aaron Donald and number 4 (50:52).

So, Donald is discussed at 50:52

link:

https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/9ce11dad-e86a-444f-ba83-ae27003475be/8a5b3506-630c-4a66-a211-b3130184ec10/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1