Aaron Donald has lived at the top of lists that rank the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL. For the majority of his career, he’s been the best. Not only that, but he’s been the premier defensive player in the NFL for the better part of the last decade.
But after a season in which he missed six games and had a career-low five sacks, some are beginning to question whether he’s slowing down a bit. Doubting Donald is never a good idea, especially considering last season was the first time he’s ever missed time due to injury.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar still views Donald as one of the very best in the NFL, but he dropped the Rams star from the top of his interior D-line rankings for 2023. After Donald was first in 2022, Farrar put Donald third this year, behind Chris Jones (No. 1) and Dexter Lawrence (No. 2).
Still, with just 615 snaps last season — by far the fewest he’s had in a campaign in his NFL career — Donald still put up five sacks, seven quarterback hits, 28 quarterback hits, and 33 stops. Not quite the level of work we’ve come to expect — Donald has four seasons in which he’s totaled over 100 pressures, which is just preposterous for an interior defensive lineman who commands double-teams as the default mechanism — but not in any way a situation where you’re thinking, “Yeah — he was great, but he’s done.” At age 32, Donald has as much left in the tank as most guys could ever hope to sport at their absolute peak.
Jones had an outstanding 2022 season, earning first-team All-Pro honors and finishing third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. It’s hard to argue against him as the best defensive tackle in the league heading into 2023, especially with Donald coming off ankle surgery.
Lawrence is a very different player than Donald, lining up as a true nose tackle for the Giants. He broke out in 2022 with 7.5 sacks and 28 quarterback hits, bullying interior linemen with his ridiculous power. Second might be a bit high for him considering it was his first season with more than four sacks, but he’s a playmaker, no doubt.
The more interesting thing to watch is where Donald ranks on next year’s list, if he’s on it at all. It’s possible he’ll retire after this season, calling it a career after 10 years in the NFL. But if he stays healthy in 2023 and returns for another go-around next year, you can bet he’ll be near the top of Touchdown Wire’s list again.
