the never ending "Donald's really good" thread

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  • July 6, 2018 at 9:45 pm #87890
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    July 8, 2018 at 10:56 pm #87929
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    from Ranking the NFL’s Most Unblockable Pass-Rushers

    Doug Farrar

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2783511-ranking-the-nfls-most-unblockable-pass-rushers#slide12

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    1. Aaron Donald, DL, Los Angeles Rams

    Aaron Donald has made the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons and has been named a first-team All-Pro for the past three. The only question is: What were the All-Pro voters thinking in 2014? Because Donald has been dominant since the day he hit the field in his rookie season, and he seems to get better every year.

    Lost to a point amid the team’s coaching (and subsequent winning) issues under Jeff Fisher, Donald found his day in the sun in 2017. The Los Angeles Rams won the NFC West, and new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips maximized Donald with his creative blitz packages and multiple fronts.

    The addition of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in free agency should make the 27-year-old even more unblockable than last season, when he amassed a league-leading 91 total pressures, per Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus—an astonishing feat for an interior defender.

    The NFL’s version of a needle in a haystack? Try to find something Donald doesn’t do at a plus level.

    You want power? Watch him come low off the snap and demolish a guard. You want quickness? Donald can blow past blocks as quickly as you see edge-rushers do it—his burst off the ball requires multiple replays to believe. You want hand technique? Donald can get past enemy blockers with rip and swim moves as well as anyone.

    And against double-teams, the 6’1″, 280-pound Donald presents a combination of balance and strength that allows him to not only slice through blockers but also embarrass them on his way to the quarterback. It’s why he’s able to create pressure in any situation, in any defensive front, from any gap.

    Not only is he the best defensive player in the league and the most unblockable, but Donald can also make a claim that no one else matches his consistent effectiveness from down to down.

    July 12, 2018 at 8:41 am #88006
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    from: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/agents-take-aaron-rodgers-contract-extension-and-more-unfinished-offseason-business/

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    Resetting the non-QB market

    It’s been a foregone conclusion that Rams interior defensive lineman Aaron Donald and Raiders edge rusher Khalil Mack, who are scheduled to make $6.892 million and $13.846 million respectively this year on their fifth-year options, would eventually become charter members of the $20 million-per-year non-quarterback club. Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie’s timetable for a Mack extension has been the 2018 offseason ever since locking up quarterback Derek Carr long-term last summer. Les Snead, McKenzie’s counterpart with the Rams, has called a new deal for Donald a major priority.

    The Raiders and Rams having sticker shock is the likely impediment with deals for the 2014 first-round picks. A modest increase over the current non-quarterback standard, which is Broncos linebacker Von Miller at $19,083,333 per year and $70 million in overall guarantees, may not be enough to end the stalemates. The substantial growth in quarterback salaries over the last year with the non-quarterback market remaining stagnant is a stumbling block. It is my understanding that restoring the traditional financial relationship between the highest-paid quarterback and non-quarterback which has existed under the current CBA is an important consideration to the players’ representatives. This would mean a contract averaging over $23 million per year with $85 million in guarantees where $65 million to $70 million is fully guaranteed at signing is needed in order to recreate the balance. Not surprisingly, there is reluctance to dramatically reset the non-quarterback market.

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Avatar photozn.
    July 12, 2018 at 11:51 pm #88054
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    Steve Palazzolo@PFF_Steve
    Aaron Donald led the league with 91 pressures during the regular season in 2017.

    He also led the league with 11 pressures that were nullified by penalty.

    July 13, 2018 at 12:33 am #88062
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    July 13, 2018 at 12:43 am #88065
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    PFF LA Rams@PFF_Rams
    If you took away @AaronDonald97’s 13 QB hits, he’d still lead all interior defenders in total QB pressures by at least eight

    July 14, 2018 at 7:16 pm #88114
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    July 16, 2018 at 5:05 pm #88161
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    from PFF: NFL pass-rush rankings–All 32 team’s entering 2018

    https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-nfl-pass-rush-rankings-all-32-teams-entering-2018?utm_content=buffer1b29f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=nfl

    4. LOS ANGELES RAMS
    PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP:

    Edge Defender: Matt Longacre, 73.8 overall grade
    Defensive Interior: Aaron Donald, 99.7
    Defensive Interior: Ndamukong Suh, 90.9
    Edge Defender: Samson Ebukam, 70.0
    Key Rotational Player: Michael Brockers, 83.1

    Pressure Percentage as a team, 2017: 38.5% (6th)

    The Rams are the only team in the NFL who can boast a player like Donald. At just 27 years old, he has already racked up 41 sacks, 67 hits and 199 hurries in his career. Shaking off any pre-draft concerns about his size, Donald has been dominant since arriving in the NFL out of Pittsburgh as his skillset is too much for opposing teams to handle. While there are question marks on the edge with Longacre and Ekubam currently set to start despite having combined for just 50 total pressures so far in their careers, the Rams made a big addition on the defensive line in Suh. He arrives on a one-year deal, and while he isn’t quite as dominant as Donald, has still racked up 57 sacks, 87 hits and 289 hurries over his eight-year career.

    July 17, 2018 at 4:46 pm #88213
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    July 21, 2018 at 12:25 am #88338
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    from Football Outsiders@fboutsiders

    LINK TO THE PDF: https://www.footballoutsiders.com/files/FOA2018-LARSample.pdf

    In FOA 2017, we mentioned that Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh tied for the most defeats among interior linemen. They nearly pulled off the feat again in 2017—Suh was one defeat short. It remains to be seen how opposing guards and centers handle these two together; our best guess is “not well.” They won’t even get a break with the two rotating out; they were first and second in percentage of team snaps among defensive tackles last season. Donald also led all interior linemen in sacks, knockdowns, QB hits, and yards per play. … On passing downs, having Suh and Donald at the 3-tech charging at quarterbacks is going to be an interior pass rush that no other team in the league can match…. If there’s anything [Donald] does “poorly,” it’s stop the run, where his 86 percent stop rate was only 10th in the league. So, you know, don’t bother giving him a massive extension or anything. Suh has more snaps in the past eight years than any other defensive lineman, but only three percent of them have come at nose tackle. Wade Phillips’ scheme is more similar to 4-3 fronts than most 3-4 defenses, and Suh should have plenty of one-gap opportunities. The shift to a 3-4 helped Michael Brockers, who recorded a career high in tackles.

    July 21, 2018 at 10:51 am #88351
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    from: https://overthecap.com/camp-holdouts-seeking-second-nfl-contract-not-successful/

    Aaron Donald (Rams): 2018 Salary Cap Charge: $6,892,000

    % of 2018 Team Cap: 3.85%

    7/49 at 34DE

    Fully Guaranteed Money: $6,892,000 – Fifth Year Option

    Age – 27

    Rams Cap Space: $2,206,614

    It is not an exaggeration to say that if Aaron Donald ends up playing for his fifth-year option amount of $6,892,000 in 2018 it may be one of the more underpaid seasons for a premier player in NFL history following the standard four-year rookie deal (more on this later). The fifth-year option for a first-rounder outside of the top ten is calculated by taking the average of the 3rd through 25th highest salaries at the player’s position, in this case defensive tackle. Coming off Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2017, it still does not appear that Donald is going to receive the payday he deserves.

    The Rams front office have shown with several offseason moves that they are certainly aware of how good they have it with Donald right now, and that they must capitalize before he gets a likely record-setting deal. With only 3.85% of the 2018 Team Cap allocated to Donald, and with Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and Marcus Peters still playing on their rookie deals, the Rams have gone all-in for 2018. The trade for cornerback Aqib Talib, who is set to make $8 million this season, bolsters a secondary that was exposed at times last year. The acquisition of Ndamukong Suh on a one year, $14 million deal creates one of the scariest defensive tackle combos of all time. The franchise tagging of Lamarcus Joyner to avoid negotiating a big, long-term payday for now… I could keep going. All of this is possible because of Donald’s fifth-year option.

    Donald deserves a monster contract, a fact he is keenly aware of, but he may have to forego getting it now for a very legitimate chance at a Super Bowl ring instead. There is not much money left to dish out in LA at this point.

    July 22, 2018 at 6:45 pm #88389
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    July 27, 2018 at 9:30 am #88582
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    July 27, 2018 at 1:50 pm #88599
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    The Rams have the seventh-most cap room in 2019, about $44 million, if I remember correctly. That includes Peters, Talib, Sullivan, Whitworth, Brockers, Cooks, Gurley and even Barron. Goff, Kupp, JJohnson and others still on their rookie contracts. All that cap room and we don’t have to part ways with an established veteran!

    July 27, 2018 at 10:53 pm #88621
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    Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
    Ndamukong Suh said he’s looking forward to playing with Aaron Donald but hasn’t talked contracts with him. Suh: “He deserves more than I got, so I’ll leave it at that.” Suh signed for 6 years and $114 million with Miami in 2015.

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    July 28, 2018 at 6:03 pm #88648
    JackPMiller
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    I say split the difference, and give Donald a 4 year $92 million deal with 80 million guaranteed.

    July 28, 2018 at 9:44 pm #88655
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    Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry

    Quote of the Day on Thursday came from defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh on Aaron Donald: “He’s a guy that I’ve watched from afar and hopefully have an opportunity sometime soon to get on the same field and be on the same side of the ball… I spoke to him at the very beginning of everything. I’ve obviously stayed out of contract stuff and things of that nature, it’s really none of my business. I wish him all the best, he deserves more than what I got, so I’ll kind of leave it at that.”

    July 29, 2018 at 12:26 am #88662
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    July 29, 2018 at 1:14 am #88666
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    Agamemnon

    July 31, 2018 at 11:15 am #88765
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    August 3, 2018 at 12:45 pm #88943
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    August 3, 2018 at 5:39 pm #88964
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    August 11, 2018 at 5:46 pm #89288
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    August 15, 2018 at 3:48 am #89443
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    Just a 14 second clip.

    Ebukam on Donald.

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    August 15, 2018 at 9:59 am #89448
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    NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund breaks down by the numbers just how much Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald brings to the team, and how many season wins she believes he’s worth when he’s with the team.

    https://sports.yahoo.com/game-theory-rams-miss-without-234500834.html

    August 16, 2018 at 11:57 am #89495
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    from PFF: Aaron Donald is the exception to the rule

    2017

    https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-teaching-tape-aaron-donald-is-the-exception-to-the-rule

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    Since entering the NFL, Donald has not only held up versus double teams, he’s also been able to make plays despite them. As with anything in football there are multiple ways to get the same job done. A couple months back I wrote about how Damon Harrison dominated doubles by attacking the point man then throwing him to the side. Donald often takes a different approach. With his size/speed combination, he has three things he can use to his advantage: quickness, leverage and lack of a strike zone. This allows him to knife into the sweet spot of a double team and not let either linemen engage him cleanly. On the play below you can see how it’s done.

    Donald gets skinny from the snap, making the right guard’s contact inconsequential. It also leaves the right tackle a tiny area to engage. Combine that with the speed that Donald comes off the ball, and the right tackle has little to no shot of actually getting Donald cleanly. Nearly the exact same thing happens again in the play below.

    This isn’t simply a case of highlight reel scouting though, Donald took only nine downgrades against double teams in the run game all season long. That’s a tiny bit more than one every two games. Compare that with the fact that Donald made 30 total stops against the run and you have one of the most complete run defenders in the game.

    When we talk about Aaron Donald though, much like in the pre-draft process, his ability in run defense should be an afterthought. The man gets to quarterbacks more often, and with more speed, than any other interior defender in the NFL. And it’s not even close.

    The same traits that Donald uses to his advantage against double teams are also his calling card as a pass rusher. He’s always the low man and with his speed and small stature, offensive linemen struggle mightily to land a meaningful punch. Because of all that, no one in the league has more decisive pressures.

    August 27, 2018 at 2:01 am #89900
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    August 27, 2018 at 5:25 am #89908
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    Agamemnon

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