As it stands right now, the three-way race for Defensive Player of the Year appears to be between Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, and Dallas’ Micah Parsons.
Who’s missing in the discussion? Rams behemoth Aaron Donald, who already won the award in 2017, 2018, and 2020. And it’s not as if Donald has had a below-average season — coming into Monday night’s game against the Cardinals, Donald had amassed seven sacks, eight quarterback hits, and 37 quarterback hurries. Not quite the level we’ve seen in previous seasons, but Donald is still a force, and when you’re talking DPOY, it’s best not to ignore him.
Donald re-stated his case on the first play of the Cardinals game, and right guard Max Garcia was the unfortunate opponent in Donald’s way.
Aaron Donald is the NFL’s Thanos pic.twitter.com/yLo3So6mBM
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) December 14, 2021
Donald basically pushes Garcia into Kyler Murray, and the only thing stopping Donald from an outright sack (he was credited with one) is the presence of left tackle D.J. Humphries, busy blocking on the other side.
It was a compelling reminder that when he’s on his game, Aaron Donald is still the NFL’s most malevolent force — and he should absolutely be in the DPOY conversation, whether we’re talking about him or not.
