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======= I dunno. I hate the whole ‘who is the best player’ question. I mean, how in the world do you ‘compare’ Jerry Rice and Merlin Olsen ? Lawrence Taylor and Orlando Pace? Deacon and Lance Allworth? Its hard enough just to compare same-position-players from different eras. Like Merlin vs Aaron Donald. Can Donald do it as long as Merlin did? Merlin couldnt pass-rush the way Donald can, but Donald couldnt stuff the run as consistently as Merlin did. I dunno. If i ‘had’ to play one version of the game, best I could do ….Donald is the best DT of his era. His era being, somewhere around a decade or so. Also, Zooey is the one of the most annoying “California” posters of his era. w v
I was comparing Donald to other DTs only if wasn’t clear in my post. I agree it’s problematic to compare players from different positions with the goal of determining who is the best. Is Aaron Donald better than Tom Brady? Is he better than Jim Brown? There are comparisons one can make (who had the bigger impact on the game, who was more important to their team’s success, etc) but they wouldn’t fully answer the question “who was the better player?’. I’m a huge fan of Merlin Olsen, and before the advent of Aaron Donald I considered him to be the best DT to ever play. I disagree that Donald can’t stop the run as consistently as Merlin could. Merlin played in an era when stopping the run was a DT’s primary duty, and he did it better than anybody. Donald plays in an era where a DT’s primary responsibility is to get inside push on the pocket so the QB can’t step up. I think if Donald was asked to primarily be a run-stuffer, he could do that better than anybody. It’s just that the nature of the position has changed. Of course, that’s speculation on my part, but I think it’s true.
I get what you’re saying. But to me a lot of it is era-dependent. The game changed and DTs in the 60s and 70s were different animals. Merlin Olsen for example fit his era perfectly. I think in the 60s or 70s Donald would have been a linebacker. Though I think one guy who would translate from the past to the present is Alan Page. Which takes nothing away from him, obviously. All the players who know the game and praise Donald say he is a unique blend of quickness and strength. Plus a lot of what he is comes from harnessing his skills and working endlessly on his game. Even the most dedicated players in the 60s and 70s did not work on their games at that level and to that extent. In fact they couldn’t even if they wanted to.
I think trans-generational comparisons can be reasonably made. Donald is considered the best right now mainly because of his play against the pass. DT’s of the past weren’t measured by their ability to rush the passer as much. However, picture Aaron Donald playing DT in an era that any incidental grabbing of the defender’s jersey or hooking of an arm by an o-lineman would draw a flag. Imagine AD playing when the head slap was legal. 😉
Donald is more dominant than any DT ever of any era. Entire offensive game plans are constructed with Aaron Donald in mind. What DT ever garnered the attention Donald does? He routinely has to fight through double and triple teams. The 60’s and 70’s could probably be considered the golden age of DTs. Olsen, Joe Greene, Alan Page, Randy White, even Larry Brooks (John Hannah called him the best DT he ever faced) but none of them from an individual standpoint impacted the game like Aaron Donald. It’s hard to even know which one of that group was the best, whereas Donald is head and shoulders above his contemporaries. Sapp and Suh at their best aren’t in the same class.
