Rams’ Aaron Donald Earns Pro Football Focus Defensive Player of the Year Honors

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald was recently named Defensive Player of the Year by Pro Football Focus.

Last week, Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams received some impressive praise after receiving NFC West Defensive Player of the Year honors by a group of ESPN writers. Now, it looks like the recognition is continuing for the former Pittsburgh star after Pro Football Focus decided Donald was worthy of a similar award for the second-straight season.

The popular website recently released their player awards for the 2016 season, and Donald was fortunate enough to be named Defensive Player of the Year once again. This year may not have turned out the way Los Angeles was hoping it would, but if there was anything to takeaway from a potential standpoint, Donald is going to continue getting better and better each season.

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One year after finishing with a 7-9 record, the Rams somehow managed to take a step back in 2016 after only winning four games, which is sad since they started off on a hot note by winning three of their first four games. Despite all of the struggles, Donald still found a way to record eight sacks, and even led the league with 31 quarterback hits.

When considering all of the extra pressure he was receiving on a weekly basis from opponents, these numbers are quite impressive for a player like Donald, as it certainly gives Wade Phillips even more excitement for taking over at defensive coordinator. The Rams knew they had something special in Donald after using the 13th overall pick on the defensive star during the 2014 NFL Draft, but he’s already exceeded all expectations over the last three years.

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Between all of the recognition he’s receiving from writers across the country to being named to another first-team All pro, it’s good to see Los Angeles have something positive to be proud of in Donald when seeing how much of a disappointment the team was this past season.