Everyone knows how good Aaron Donald is. He’s unanimously viewed as one of the best defenders in the NFL and has already staked his claim among the top defensive tackles in league history.
He carried the Rams pass rush last season with 20.5 sacks to lead the NFL, but he’s getting plenty of help from his friends in 2019. Through eight games, Donald has five sacks, which is third on the team. Dante Fowler Jr. leads the way with 6.5, including 4.5 in his last two games.
When the Rams aren’t getting to the quarterback for sacks, they’re at least generating pressure and disrupting the offense. According to NFL Matchup on ESPN, there isn’t a single team better than the Rams at disrupting quarterbacks.
They lead the league with a disruption rate of 36% this year – 1.3% higher than the next-closest team.
As the graphic notes, a disruption is a QB pressure, hurry or sack. Fowler and Donald both rank in the top three in the NFL with 15 QB hurries each. In total pressures, Fowler ranks seventh with 25, while Donald is tied for eighth with 24 of his own.
Those two are doing most of the damage for the Rams, but Michael Brockers has 13 pressures this season, as does Clay Matthews – who has only played five games this year.
The Rams are only 12th in the NFL in sacks (23), but the pass rush has clearly improved from last season and it’s made a world of difference.
