8. Aaron Donald, DT, Rams

There is no player in the NFL who’s more disruptive on a down-to-down basis between the tackles than Donald.

Doug Farrar | Jun 22, 2016

8. Aaron Donald, DT, Rams /

There is no player in the NFL who’s more disruptive on a down-to-down basis between the tackles than Donald. He was clearly a top-five talent in the 2014 draft out of Pitt, and yet he fell to the Rams at No. 13. Two years into his career, he has used his undersized frame to his advantage: At 6' 1" and 285 pounds, he gains ferocious leverage at the snap by getting under the pads of blockers and using his upper-body strength to move them back. Add in his quickness and pursuit speed, and there are long stretches when he’s just about unblockable, even though he faces double-teams on a regular basis. Donald amassed 11 sacks in ’15 and already has 20 in his short career, but his impact is about more than that. He’s an incredible run defender, and he racks up pressures in bunches—last year he had 79 in total and 51 defensive stops according to Pro Football Focus. He’s the epicenter of the Rams’ front four, and he’ll stay in that role for a long time.

Published Jun 22, 2016

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.