Aaron Donald earning top spot on PFF’s best players of 2017 should make Rams proud

The folks over at Pro Football Focus listed Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams as the No. 1 player heading into the 2017 season.

For a team like the Los Angeles Rams that finished with a 4-12 record during the 2016 season while eventually parting ways with former head coach Jeff Fisher, it can be difficult at times to be positive over the direction the team is heading. With that being said, no matter how much the team has struggled over the last few years, at least the Rams have been fortunate to have one of the NFL’s top defensive superstars in Aaron Donald, who recently received some nice recognition from the writers at Pro Football Focus.

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In a list conducted for the top 50 players heading into the 2017 season, the Los Angeles defensive tackle found himself sitting at No. 1 ahead of other key players such as Tom Brady and J.J. Watt. While the argument can be made that Watt could have taken the top spot if he wasn’t limited to appearing in just three games of all last season, this shouldn’t takeaway from the level of impact he’s had on the Rams’ defense in just three seasons.

Here’s what PFF had to say about Donald taking home top honors heading into the 2017 season:

"With J.J. Watt injured in 2016, there has been no more consistently dominant force in the NFL over the past couple of seasons than Donald. The Rams defensive lineman has been a one-man wrecking crew inside whether against the run or as a pass-rusher. He has tallied a ridiculous 161 total pressures over the past two seasons, and 90 defensive stops, generating both pressure, and decisive pressure, at a completely different rate to any other defensive tackle."

All things considered, it was amazing to see Donald still find a way to lead the NFL in quarterback hits (31), despite all of the extra attention he was receiving from opponents. And with Wade Phillips on board as the team’s new defensive coordinator, one can only imagine the high level of production Donald will display heading into his fourth season with the team.

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Of course, before any of that happens, Los Angeles needs to act fast by rewarding their beloved superstar with the hefty contract he’s been fighting for, which resulted in Donald recently skipping organized team activities. Even if Les Snead indicated a few months ago that it was only a matter of time before the two sides reached a new deal, this is something the Rams can’t afford to waste time on since the last thing they can afford to have happen is enter the 2017 season with an unhappy Donald.