By adding three more sacks to his resume on the 2018 season, Aaron Donald continues to show he deserves to be in the MVP conversation for the Los Angeles Rams.
With all due respect to the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams knew they would most likely end up with a favorable matchup in Week 16 against their division rivals, especially if Aaron Donald had his way with Josh Rosen.
As most rookie quarterbacks know, the first NFL season can be a real eye opener, and when seeing how Rosen would be facing Donald for the first time, the former UCLA star knew Week 16 could quickly turn into a rough outing.
Believe it or not, Donald had a field day against the Arizona rookie after sacking Rosen three times during the 31-9 win, giving him a total of 19.5 on the season, which is not only a franchise record for the Rams, but also one in the NFL for a defensive tackle.
Thanks to another impressive performance like this, it seems only fair to bring up the point that Donald deserves to be in the MVP discussion when looking at the impact he’s made on defense for Los Angeles all season.
Despite the early frustrations surrounding Donald from the offseason in which he was holding out for a new contract, there’s no question the defensive superstar has been worth every penny for the Rams.
Los Angeles realized early on in his career that Donald was a rare kind of talent, but watching him elevate his game to a whole new level this season has been ridiculous to witness.
In previous seasons, Donald has managed to find ways to get to opposing quarterbacks despite receiving extra attention, but the addition of Ndamukong Suh seems like it’s helped the reigning Defensive Player of the Year put together a career year.
Winning the award over someone like Patrick Mahomes II will be difficult for Donald when looking at the kind of year the Kansas City Chiefs star is having, but also it’s difficult to ignore what he’s been able to accomplish during his fifth NFL season.
Either way, if Donald ends up falling short like his teammate Todd Gurley did last season, as long as the Rams are in great position to make a run at the Super Bowl, this is all that matters the most.
Awards are great, but even Donald knows Los Angeles winning is the whole reason why he’s on the Rams in the first place, and if he somehow goes on to take home MVP honors over Mahomes, well then this will just be viewed as another impressive accomplishment for the defensive star.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News