One of the most difficult things to do in sports is to rank players from different eras. However, everyone loves to do it. They want to know who is the “G.O.A.T” in every sport, every position, every team, etc.
Is Michael Jordan better than LeBron James? Are Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin
better than Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky because of the era each played in? Is Big Ben better than Terry Bradshaw even
though Bradshaw has double the rings?
They are questions that have no real right or wrong answer,
but it is the most common trope in sports talk to try and compare these types
of players and eras. There are just too
many differences given sports eras that these types of comparison are always
difficult to make unless one player exclusively played against another.
Even in today’s game where T.J. Watt plays against Myles
Garrett, there are those that argue Garrett is a better defender. This is obviously ridiculous and Pro Football
Focus says that stuff solely for click bait, but the statements are indeed
made.
Pittsburgh Steelers legend, Mean Joe Greene, is seen by many
as the greatest defensive tackle of all-time.
However, the era he played in was exponentially more favorable to
defenders than the NFL is today. Those
two things are true. My subjective
opinion is that Aaron Donald has now officially cemented himself as the
greatest defensive tackle, and defensive player, of all-time.
In 8 seasons, Aaron Donald has done nothing but dominate the
NFL. In his rookie season he won
Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl. Since then, he has collected seven additional
Pro Bowl nominations, seven First-Team All-Pro honors, and eight NFC defensive
player of the week awards. Only one
season has Donald not received First Team All-Pro honors and that was his
rookie year. He has been nominated for
the Pro Bowl every single one of his seasons played in the NFL.
Donald has also won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in
nearly half of his seasons played with three awards. He probably should win it every year, but the
voters most likely recognize that wouldn’t be embraced well by the fans of
other teams. Plus, when guys like T.J.
Watt have standout years, they should be rewarded, like this season. That award is one of the few ways defensive
players can be recognized so it is necessary for the award to rotate.
Also, in addition to 98 sacks and 150 tackles for loss in
just 123 games started, Donald is visually the best player on the field. Stats are easy to rattle off, and Donald’s
sure are impressive, but the eye-ball test is stronger than numbers on a
screen.
Donald is the most disruptive player I have ever watched and
you have ever watched. Offenses continue
to exclusively game plan around him and they only hope to contain him on half
of the offensive snaps. He also continues
to be this dominant in an era of football where offensive players continue to
receive preferential treatment.
In a time when defenders can’t breathe on the quarterback,
Donald continues to dominate regardless of the constant rule-making trying to
handcuff him. This is what gives him the
edge over guys like Mean Joe Greene. Joe
Greene was absolutely the most dominant defender of his era and for many years
after that. However, defenders were a
lot more free to use any means necessary to get to and take down the
quarterback during his career. Nowadays,
Greene would be flagged on virtually every play.
Last night, Donald was one of the main storylines of the
Super Bowl win for the Los Angeles Rams.
Play after play, he was disrupting whatever Joe Burrow and the Bengals
tried to get going on offense. When the
Bengals could not lend help to their guard and double team Donald, he would
break through and at least get a hit on Burrow.
On the Bengals last offensive drive, when they were in desperate
need of a field goal, Donald made a key tackle on 3rd and 1 to stop
the ball carrier, Samaje Perine, from reaching the line to gain. Then on 4th down, Donald provided
the pressure and takedown of Burrow that led to the game clinching incomplete
pass and a turnover on downs. Both plays
clinched the Lombardi trophy for the Rams and just added to Donald’s Hall of
Fame resume.
Ja’Marr Chase already was behind Jalen Ramsey on a go route when Ramsey fell on the fourth-and-1 game ender. If Burrow had a sliver more time … pic.twitter.com/uQfgqZ88P4
— Jay Morrison (@JayMorrisonATH) February 14, 2022
There was speculation after the game that Donald may retire
from the NFL. After eight grueling
seasons, one Super Bowl championship and another Super Bowl appearance, he may recognize
the toll football will have on his brain and body. Therefore, last night’s game may have been
the last we see of the greatest defensive player in the history of the game. If it was, in just eight seasons he built a
Hall of Fame resume and will be voted in first-ballot. You can count that.