This Rams Player Would Take Giants D to Another Level in Hypothetical "Steal"

Aaron Donald to the Giants? If New York could "steal" him from the Rams, imagine what the defense would look like.

Author:
Joe Najarian
Publish date:
Jul 25, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

In this story:

As we count down to training camp, the Giants Country editorial team went through the rosters of each of the Giants' 2023 regular-season opponents and selected a player they absolutely should if the Giants could acquire for the upcoming season.

Who did we pick from each team? Stay tuned--and yes, for the NFC East teams, we picked two players since the Giants play them twice.

Aug 19, 2021; Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; A detailed view of a Los Angeles Rams helmet during a joint practice against the Las Vegas Raiders. — Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Donald, Defensive Lineman

Height: 6-foot-1 | Weight: 280 pounds
College: Pittsburgh | NFL Exp.: 9
Career Stats: 138 games played, 490 tackles, 103.0 sacks, 24 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, 160 tackles for loss, 237 quarterback hits.

The New York Giants are no stranger to developing great defensive linemen.

Throughout history, the Giants have rostered defensive linemen George Martin, Leonard Marshall, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and above all, Michael Strahan. These players were key contributors to Super Bowl champions and are in the team’s Ring of Honor, with Strahan also enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Giants also have another blossoming star on the defensive line in Dexter Lawrence, who had a true breakout season in 2022 and looks to anchor the line for years.

However, the Giants will host the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18 of the upcoming season, and they will have the challenge of containing a generational talent on the opposing defensive line. If the Giants could hypothetically “steal” him, then they would add another name to those great defensive linemen.

His name? Aaron Donald.

More "Steal a Player" Picks

Where Would He Fit In?

The Giants already have good pieces on their defensive line in Lawrence, Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, and Leonard Williams. But adding a clear Hall of Fame talent like Donald would take the line to another level.

Donald is also a pure defensive tackle with significant experience in the 3-4 defense, which is Wink Martindale's defense. Although he missed the last six weeks of the 2022 season, he was still named to the Pro Bowl, an honor he earned in every season.

In his 11 games, he continued to provide exceptional pressure on quarterbacks with 40 total pressures, seven hits, 28 hurries, and five sacks of his own. Donald’s shortened season also saw improvements in his tackling, with 33 defensive stops, ten tackles for losses, and lowered his missed tackles rate from 13.9% in 2021 to 8.2% in 2022. For a Giants team looking to cut down on missed tackles, that’s a great sign.

Donald has been a model of consistency in his pass-rushing abilities. The Giants’ pass rush is still developing under Martindale, who is known for his blitz-happy approach. Even as it continues to improve, two of their division rivals, the Cowboys and Eagles, have among the most fearsome pass rushes in the NFL, both of which are superior to New York’s in their current states.

But if the Giants were to magically extract Donald from the Rams, the pass rush would instantly reach the caliber of their rivals.

Such a move is only hypothetical, but if Donald were to put on a Big Blue uniform, his impact on the pass rush- and the defense as a whole--would push the Giants defense off the charts.