Aaron Donald was not like most defensive tackles in the NFL. He’s faster than just about all of them, more powerful than even the biggest nose tackles and quicker than even some running backs.
Part of what made him so special was his ability to use his power and leverage to beat opposing linemen on the interior despite being much smaller than every guard and center he went up against.
He measured in at 6-foot-1 and 285 pounds at the NFL combine in 2014 and just about each year, he was listed at 280 pounds. Yet, he rarely played at that weight during his career.
He told Chris Long on the “Green Light Podcast” this week that although he played at 280-285 pounds in his first two seasons, he played every other year at 267 pounds or lighter.
In 2018, he was at his lightest weight. During that season, he played between 250 and 260 pounds, weighing 258 pounds in the Super Bowl that year.
At 250 pounds, that’s 30 pounds lighter than his listed weight, which is ridiculous for an NFL defensive tackle. For comparison, the lightest defensive tackle at the combine this year was Eric Watts at 274 pounds.
“I ain’t never touched 300,” Donald said. “My first two years, I played at probably 280-285. My third year was around 270-275. Every other year I played at probably 260, 267 sometimes. In 2018, (that) was my lightest year. I played that whole year probably around 250-260 that whole year. I was 258 in the Super Bowl in 2018. I was 258 as a defensive tackle in the National Football League in the Super Bowl. I was playing at 250-260 that whole year.”
Incredibly, Donald didn’t lose any sort of strength or power despite being so light. With all the weights he lifted and training he did, he kept up his strength – as evidenced by his insanely ripped physique.
“Hell no! I work out all the time. I lift weights all the time. I always keep my strength, bro. I gotta lift. I gotta feel the weight,” he said. “I just trim my body up, my second holdout back-to-back. All I’m doing is working out every day, training. That’s all I was doing. That’s when I got a six-pack. ’18, that’s when my body really changed. I don’t know, we were blowing a lot of teams out so we had the opportunity to rush a lot, just felt fast as hell. Fast, quick, use a lot of quickness.”
The 2018 season was the best of Donald’s career, so slimming down didn’t hurt him in the least bit. That year, he led the NFL with 20.5 sacks and 25 tackles for a loss, earning his second Defensive Player of the Year award and helping lead the Rams to the Super Bowl.
It’s crazy to think a defensive tackle could have the level of success that Donald had at 250 pounds, but that’s what made him so special.
