Was Rams DT Aaron Donald Snubbed For Defensive Player Of The Year Consideration?
With the NFL announcing the finalists for major league awards on Thursday, the Los Angeles Rams are represented quite well. Matthew Stafford is a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year, while Puka Nacua and Kobie Turner are up for Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, respectively.
However, there is one Rams star whose name is notably absent, that being defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
The future Hall of Famer was not among the five finalists for Defensive Player of the Year, an award he has already won three times throughout his legendary career. Additionally, this marks just the third time Donald did not finish top-five in voting for the award, following his rookie season in 2014 and an injury-plagued campaign in 2022.
Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald (99) celebrates in the first half in a game against the Cleveland Browns at SoFi Stadium.
Yannick Peterhans-USA TODAY Sports
The finalists for the award are as follows:
- DaRon Bland, CB, Dallas Cowboys
- Max Crosby, DE, Las Vegas Raiders
- Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns
- Micah Parsons, LB, Dallas Cowboys
- T.J. Watt, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Donald, 32, turned in yet another exceptional season, racking up 53 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He has finished high in DPOY voting with similar numbers before, such as when he placed fourth in 2016 after recording 47 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
That begs the question, did Donald get snubbed from being a DPOY finalist once again? Well, it's complicated.
In a vacuum, Donald certainly has a case for being among the finalists, especially when considering that he did it all with a very young supporting cast around him. In the context of the rest of the league, though, it starts to make a bit more sense why he wasn't in the top five.
All four of the pass-rushers who were named finalists have significantly more sacks than Donald, which is what voters tend to value most. Garrett and Parsons both had 14, Crosby had 14.5 and Watt had a league-best 19. One could argue that Donald getting eight is similarly impressive due to the difference in position, but having six fewer sacks than the competition is a tough hurdle to clear
As for Bland, it would be nearly impossible to exclude him after he had a league-leading nine interceptions and set an NFL record with five pick-sixes in one season.
In short, while there's certainly a case to be made that Donald deserves to be a DPOY finalist, the competition was just too tough this season.
At the end of the day, though, Donald missing out on the award does not take away from what he accomplished this season, or his amazing career as a whole.
