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  • #12972
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    Rustyray posted this:

    Pro Football Focus @PFF · 15m 15 minutes ago
    Only one rookie leads the NFL in PFF grade at his position so far this year: Aaron Donald. #Rams rookie leads all DTs

    #12978
    PA Ram
    Participant

    He was a great draft pick.

    But to me the steal of their draft was E.J. Gaines. To get that guy in the 6th round was incredible.

    This was pretty good draft for the team.

    Donald, Gaines and Mason have been outstanding.

    Robinson is coming along.

    No complaints.

    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick

    #13024
    Avatar photowv
    Participant
    #13027
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Every freaking week, that guy makes my jaw drop.

    And this from a guy who watched tap on Suh and thought he’d be the next Sapp.

    Now, I still think Suh had the slightly better tape coming out of college, is bigger and stronger and does things that still defy explanation for me.

    That said, I think NO OTHER DT who’s come out since Sapp… that includes Suh, McCoy (who I was 100% wrong about. I said he was a total bust coming out, so if I get credit for calling hits, I should take credit for my misses as well and McCoy is easily my biggest miss), Geno Atkins… NO OTHER has come out and IMPROVED at the RATE that Aaron Donald has.

    Aaron Donald from his first game where he didn’t start to the Raider game is almost an entirely different player. He looks like he’s got 3 seasons in the league at this point. Almost… His vector at this point looks to be at LEAST All-Pro if not All-Decade. It’s just that damn good.

    I thought I wouldn’t see another DT half as good as Suh for another Decade. I think Aaron Donald has the capacity to be better as an all around DT (there are aspects to his game that Suh is still better) and that’s just outstanding…

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    #13457
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    from off the net

    ==

    Rams and Gators

    Tackle For Loss in a season by a DT since 1998 according to Pro Football Reference:

    6

    #13543
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    http://ramblinfan.com/2014/12/08/quick-thoughts-st-louis-rams-win-washington-redskins/

    According to Pro Football Focus, Aaron Donald is the No.2 overall graded defensive lineman in the league this season, trailing only likely Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watt.

    #13651
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Chris Long: “I think Aaron Donald should be in the Pro Bowl”

    Chris Long speaks with reporters following Wednesday’s practice before Thursday Night Football.

    http://www.stlouisrams.com/videos/videos/Long-I-think-he-should-be-in-the-Pro-Bowl/dc598216-0a0c-4450-80e0-fdb43a0957ad

    #13663
    Avatar photoInvaderRam
    Moderator

    absolutely love this year’s draft. i wouldn’t trade robinson or donald for anybody else in this year’s draft. and this was one heckuva draft!

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by Avatar photoInvaderRam.
    #13683
    Dak
    Participant

    Love, love, love Donald. I cannot remember another DT making plays like this in the backfield for any team I’ve ever followed. Every game, you can count on it. He just kills drives. And, he’s a freakin’ rookie! Sometimes, the college game highlights are for real, like in this case. Remember how many times you’d see a play where he just rips through to wreak havoc on the opposition? Well, was that against bad competition? You don’t know what’s going to happen until the guy gets to the NFL. But, you know, if this guy was a little bigger, and in a draft with less talent, no way he’s there at No. 13 for the Rams. Damn, we are lucky to have him.

    #13896
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Donald making run at defensive rookie of the year

    By Jim Thomas

    http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/donald-making-run-at-defensive-rookie-of-the-year/article_3f95449b-f49c-5916-bd6d-d1f053b55b8e.html

    As Rams defensive line coach Mike Waufle tells the story, you had to see it to believe it when watching tape of Aaron Donald in college and at the Senior Bowl.

    “I was sitting there at the scouting combine with (general manager) Les Snead and coach (Jeff) Fisher,” Waufle recalled. “We’re all sitting there together, and we’re going through the interview’’ with Donald.

    “The first thing I asked him was: ‘Who taught you technique?’” Waufle said. “I was curious.”

    And impressed.

    NFL players spend countless hours working on technique, learning how to use their hands to fend off blockers or set them up. But Donald came out of the University of Pittsburgh looking like he’d played in the NFL for several seasons.

    His technique came courtesy of Demond Gibson, Donald’s high school coach in Pittsburgh.

    Donald already had much of the rest of the skill set required to succeed in the NFL: the strength, leverage and, of course, his quick first step.

    “He’s extremely quick. He has one of the fastest 10-yard (dash) times that I’ve ever timed,” Waufle said.

    Waufle’s always on the floor at the NFL scouting combine in February running the defensive line drills.

    Donald’s 40-yard dash time itself was an eye-opening 4.68 seconds, the fifth-highest time of any defensive lineman at the 2014 combine, ends included.

    The first 10 yards of that 40 is what caused Waufle to do a double take.

    “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is unbelievable,’” Waufle recalled. “He has that initial quickness that people have a hard time with. He’s got natural leverage. He’s extremely strong.”

    All of that helps explain why Donald has made the transition from college to the NFL without a blink. And why he has to be considered a leading contender for the league’s defensive rookie of the year award.

    “No question,” Waufle said. “I mean, he’s one of the better defensive tackles in the league, period, regardless of anything.”

    The numbers back that up. With two games to play this season, Donald has eight sacks, more than any rookie defensive player regardless of position. Among rookies, the next-highest total entering Sunday’s games was San Francisco’s Aaron Lynch — with five. And he didn’t have any sacks in the 49ers’ loss to Seattle.

    OPPOSITION TAKING NOTICE

    Donald’s total already is the highest for a Rams defensive tackle since D’Marco Farr had 8½ sacks in the 1999 Super Bowl championship season. Four years earlier, in 1995, Farr had the highest sack total for a Rams defensive tackle during the team’s 20 seasons in St. Louis — 11½.

    Donald also has a team-high 16 tackles for loss, and ranks third in quarterback pressures on the squad with 25. His 64 tackles is second among Rams defensive linemen to William Hayes’ 70.

    With that kind of production, there isn’t a head coach, offensive coordinator or offensive line coach on the Rams’ schedule who doesn’t know all about Donald.

    “He’s just a relentless rusher,” Washington coach Jay Gruden said prior to the Rams’ 24-0 victory over the Redskins on Dec. 7. “Man, he gets straight penetration, uses his hands extremely well in the pass, and really holds up in the run game.

    “I think the concern of him coming out was maybe he wouldn’t hold up in the running game on double-teams and all of that, but he does a good job in the run game also. Very disruptive player, and that’s what you want from your three-technique.

    “Everybody wants to talk about (Robert) Quinn and how good he is, and deservedly so. But Donald has a lot to do with that pass rush, also.”

    Gruden said he was hoping Donald would somehow fall to Washington in the second round of the draft last May.

    No such luck. The Rams took him at No. 13 overall.

    Last Tuesday on a conference call with St. Louis reporters, Arizona coach Bruce Arians was asked what concerns him about Donald.

    “Ha, ha. Everything,” Arians replied. “I like everything about him, and all of it concerns me. He’s a high-motor, very talented young guy that I was really sad to see go the Rams, ‘cause we’ve got to play him twice every year.”

    Keep in mind, Donald has put up the numbers he has even though he was a rotation player for the first four games of the season, playing a fair amount but still playing behind starters Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford.

    But in Game 5, the Rams’ 31-17 Monday night loss to San Francisco, Donald made his first NFL start (ahead of Langford) and has been starting ever since.

    Entering this week’s home finale against the New York Giants, Donald has been on the field for 607 defensive plays. That’s second only to Quinn’s 694 plays among the Rams’ nine defensive linemen.

    SMOOTH TRANSITION

    Some observers wondered how the undersized Donald (6 feet 1, 285 pounds) would hold up over the course of a long NFL season. But he has shown no signs of hitting the rookie wall.

    “Just the normal things, but just like any other football player,” the low-key Donald said when asked about any aches or pains. “I feel good. The season’s gone by pretty fast.”

    This is a man who loves to compete and loves playing football. So much so, that showing up to Rams Park every day doesn’t seem like a job to him.

    “Not at all,” he said. “Any time you get to do something you love doing with great guys — always cracking jokes with each other, having fun — it makes the day go a lot faster.”

    The transition has been about as smooth as possible from college to the NFL. Of course, it helps when your technique is so good that your D-line coach instructs you simply to “keep doing what you’re doing” when you arrive.

    That approach has worked well enough to put Donald in position to become the Rams’ first NFL defensive rookie of the year since linebacker Isiah Robertson in 1971. Even the modest Donald admits —for just a second or two — that’s something for which to shoot.

    “That’d be an amazing accomplishment,” he said. “But right now I’ve got more games left. Right now I’m just worried about the season. After these games are over, then that’s when I’ll start worrying about that.”

    #14014
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    From PFF

    https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/12/11/32-observations-week-14-3/

    St. Louis Rams: Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has a Run Stop Percentage of 12.3% which is second-best for all defensive/nose tackles.

    ===

    Me:

    There’s also some gems in the article I posted in this thread by JT:

    Donald’s 40-yard dash time itself was an eye-opening 4.68 seconds, the fifth-highest time of any defensive lineman at the 2014 combine, ends included.

    The first 10 yards of that 40 is what caused Waufle to do a double take.

    “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is unbelievable,’” Waufle recalled. “He has that initial quickness that people have a hard time with. He’s got natural leverage. He’s extremely strong.”



    Last Tuesday on a conference call with St. Louis reporters, Arizona coach Bruce Arians was asked what concerns him about Donald.

    “Ha, ha. Everything,” Arians replied. “I like everything about him, and all of it concerns me. He’s a high-motor, very talented young guy that I was really sad to see go the Rams, ‘cause we’ve got to play him twice every year.”

    #14092
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    from Defensive rookie of the year candidates

    By Marty Callinan, ESPN Stats & Information

    http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/100173/defensive-rookie-of-the-year-candidates

    Rams DT Aaron Donald leads an impressive group of Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates. As the NFL season closes in on the end of the regular season, ESPN Stats & Info looks at some of the leading candidates for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

    DT Aaron Donald, Rams

    Forget about Defensive Rookie of the Year for a minute. Donald has been one of the best defensive tackles in all of football this season.

    Donald has 8.0 sacks while lined up as an interior pass rusher, trailing only Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the most in the NFL this season (8.5) and Ndamukong Suh for the most by a rookie in the last seven seasons (10.0 in 2010).

    Opponents have a Total QBR of 44 against the Rams in 388 dropbacks with Donald on the field. That would rank fourth in the NFL. The Rams have allowed a Total QBR of 74 in 147 dropbacks with Donald off the field, which would rank 31st.

    Signature play: With just less than two minutes remaining in a Week 14 matchup against the Washington Redskins, Donald lined up as the left defensive tackle against right guard Chris Chester. Donald pushed Chester straight back eight yards as if the veteran weren’t even there and sacked Robert Griffin III.

    #14093
    bnw
    Blocked

    Remember when AD stood for Austin Davis?

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #14094
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Remember when AD stood for Austin Davis?

    lol s

    #14099
    Avatar photoInvaderRam
    Moderator

    his 10 yard split was 1.59.

    that’s ridiculous. elite EDGE rushers waver around 1.60 seconds.

    ndamukong suh recorded a 1.69 10 yard split.

    defensive tackles i looked at hovered around 1.65-1.70.

    watch this video to see how much of a difference 0.10 seconds can make.

    http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/0ap2000000328716/Donald-vs-Suh-in-the-40-yard-dash

    this quote really caught my eye.

    Opponents have a Total QBR of 44 against the Rams in 388 dropbacks with Donald on the field. That would rank fourth in the NFL. The Rams have allowed a Total QBR of 74 in 147 dropbacks with Donald off the field, which would rank 31st.

    just crazy. and he should get even better.

    pairing him with quinn… just wow. and i think brockers gets better too. he’s less polished than donald and a pup himself. crazy.

    #14101
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    this quote really caught my eye.

    Opponents have a Total QBR of 44 against the Rams in 388 dropbacks with Donald on the field. That would rank fourth in the NFL. The Rams have allowed a Total QBR of 74 in 147 dropbacks with Donald off the field, which would rank 31st.

    Yeah, that is a startling stat.
    One of the most interesting Stats
    of the season, really.

    w
    v

    #14104
    Avatar photoAgamemnon
    Participant

    Well, I think he should drop in coverage, that way we can blitz more. 😉

    Agamemnon

    #14111
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    Boy, I don’t know why they didn’t plug him in immediately as the longsnapper.

    #14121
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Zooey, are you trying to destroy the space-time continuum?

    Putting Aaron Donald at Long Snapper is akin to “crossing the streams”

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    #14209
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Mayock’s Slant: Aaron Donald tackles to the top

    Mike Mayock takes a look at St. Louis Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s rookie season to see why he has been so explosive.

    http://www.stlouisrams.com/videos/videos/Mayocks-Slant-Aaron-Donald-tackles-to-the-top/f35fb603-6698-4a0a-be5f-b70947a13763

    #14215
    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    Is Quinn still the best player on this defense?

    #14218
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    Is Quinn still the best player on this defense?

    Yes.
    w
    v

    #14219
    Avatar photoAgamemnon
    Participant

    I think Robinson could be the best player on defense. Did you see him run down and tackle those DBs after a couple of interceptions?

    Agamemnon

    #14223
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Is Quinn still the best player on this defense?

    Yes.
    w
    v

    I would answer it this way.

    Is Quinn the Rams best defensive player?

    Yes.

    Is Donald the Rams best defensive player?

    Yes.

    #14240
    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    nittany ram wrote:
    Is Quinn still the best player on this defense?

    Yes.
    w
    v

    That may still be true, but AD is having the better year.

    And if it is true, it may not be for much longer. AD is just a rookie.

    Imagine a defense where a guy like Robert Quinn is only the second best player on it.

    That’s like trying to imagine a message board where zooey is only the second most annoying poster on it.

    Wait. Wait. Scratch that. I saw how ridiculous that statement looked on the screen before my fingers could even type it.

    More annoying than zooey. As if…

    But my point about AD still stands, so admit that I’m right and let’s put this ugliness behind us.

    #14242
    Herzog
    Participant

    So what does all this mean about Brockers? He isn’t really our future nose tackle is he?

    #14243
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    o what does all this mean about Brockers? He isn’t really our future nose tackle is he?

    Sure, why not.

    #14254
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    from off the net

    aeneas1

    Aaron Donald

    the gang at pff has donald ranked first among all defensive tackles with a score of 32.4 through week 15 – the 32.4 would be the 8th highest year-end score pff has ever given a dt since it set up shop in 2007. also, fwiw, 6 of the 7 defensive tackles that finished the season ranked first on pff’s scorecard made the pro bowl the same year, while 5 of the 7 have been given all pro nods at some point in their career.

    one of the things that jumps out the most when looking at donald’s pff profile is his consistent play from game to game – it’s not uncommon to find players with good pff scores that have booked bad games, but their strong play in other games masks their bad outings when looking at their overall score. but that’s not the case with donald, he’s played well all year, he’s been the model of solid play and consistency.

    in fact donald only played 43% of the snaps defended in games 1-4. but from game 5 on he’s been the primary defensive tackle, the guy with the most snaps.you have to wonder if donald would have been given the chance to play as much as he has since game 4 had carrington not been slowed with a bad knee and inactive for game 5.

    #14271
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
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