Aaron Donald is looking to bounce back after a career-worst campaign in 2022, and ESPN doesn’t believe he’ll be near the top of the league in sacks in 2023. Ahead of the upcoming season, ESPN released their sack projections and Donald is expected to finish with only eight sacks.
ESPN’s Seth Walder calculated the projections by including a player’s pass-rush win rate, projected snaps, sack totals in the previous two seasons, and team win totals, among other factors. So with expectations being low on the Rams, and Donald coming off a season where he missed the final six games, he isn’t expected to produce his usual sack output.
Last season, the All-Pro interior defender tallied career-worst marks in sacks (5), tackles for loss (10), and quarterback hits (11) in 11 games due to a season-ending ankle ailment. The last time Donald had notched eight or fewer sacks came in 2016.
Entering the 2023 season, Donald appears to be healthy at 32 years old, but the Rams are going to look a bit different around him. The Rams are set to deploy a bevy of inexperienced pass rushers and defensive linemen alongside Donald, which is why no other members of the Rams cracked the top 50 in sack projections.
All that being said, if Donald can remain healthy and the young edge rushers on the Rams show flashes of success, then there is certainly a chance for him to get back to registering double-digit sacks again in 2023.
