At one point last season, Aaron Donald was facing double-teams on more than 70 percent of his pass-rush reps. Opponents refused to let him beat them, focusing most of their resources on No. 99 up front.
It didn’t work, of course, as he still led the NFL with 20.5 sacks and won his second straight Defensive Player of the Year award.
So what’s next? Even more double- and triple-teams, according to Wade Phillips.
Phillips says Donald is ahead of where he was at this time last year thanks to the benefit of training camp. Donald feels the same way, but Phillips knows teams will have an even larger target on Aaron’s back this season.
“Well, Aaron is further ahead than he was. Even though he had fantastic years the last two years, he actually started slow in the first few games,” Phillips said on Thursday. “This year, I think it’s helped him. Obviously, we’ll see, but the flip side of that is everybody’s gunning for him. We know everybody’s going to try to block two guys on him or three guys on him if they can. He’s had that, really, a lot last year, but I expect it more this year.”
It’s hard to imagine teams doubling Donald more than they did last year, but it’s definitely possible. That’s good news for Dante Fowler Jr., Clay Matthews and Michael Brockers, who will have plenty of one-on-one pass-rush opportunities.
They have to capitalize on those chances to prevent teams from committing so many blockers to Donald. The more guys that contribute to the pass rush, the better shape Los Angeles will be in.
