Aaron Donald does not need to be great for the Los Angeles Rams to become a defensive nightmare. If he is merely good, the Rams could field two former NFL Defensive Player of the Year winners on the same line, creating a matchup problem that offensive coordinators may find nearly impossible to solve. Donald, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, is ending a two-year retirement to join Miles Garrett, who won the award twice, including a unanimous selection this past season- Together, five of the last nine Defensive Player of the Year trophies sit on the same defensive front-and
The Rams have reportedly been around plus-500 odds to win the Super Bowl, but that number does not fully capture how disruptive this pairing could be- Last season, Garrett was double-teamed or chipped on 186 pass rushing snaps, the most by any edge rusher since 2018- Opponents already had to account for him on every play- Now, defenses must decide who gets the extra blocker- If the extra help goes to Garrett, Donald draws one-on-one protection with a fresh, 35-year-old body after two years of rest- If the help goes to Donald, Garrett gets the matchup he wants-
The calculus for opposing offenses starts well before game day- An offensive coordinator sitting down during the week to build a game plan will begin each play call with a simple question- Can we block Aaron Donald on this play? If not, the play gets thrown out- Can we block Miles Garrett?
If not, that play disappears too- A playbook that normally runs dozens of concepts could shrink to a survival manual in just a few hours-
This defensive upgrade addresses the exact problem that ended the Rams’ season last year- Los Angeles scored 37 points against Seattle in Week 16 and still lost 38-37, blowing a 16-point lead in overtime- Then, in the NFC Championship game, they scored 27 points and lost again- The offense was not the issue- The Rams needed to get better defensively, and adding Donald and Garrett is a direct response to that failure-
The Rams were already the NFL’s top-ranked scoring offense, and they return 10 starters on that side of the ball- Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP season- Puka Nakua is entering a contract year- Devonte Adams brings veteran firepower, and Kyren Williams can punish defenses on the ground- This means opponents cannot simply slow the game down and hope to win 13-10- The Rams will score, which forces opponents to throw more often- And every passing situation plays directly into the hands of this defense-
Still, this is not an automatic Super Bowl ticket- The Rams sit around plus-500 to win the Super Bowl- Over the last 30 years, 20 teams have entered a season in that betting range, and none of them went on to win the Super Bowl- All 20 failed-
The NFC West also remains a brutal obstacle- Seattle won 14 games and is coming off a Super Bowl title- San Francisco and Los Angeles both won 12- The Seahawks beat the Rams twice in three meetings last season- Arizona is not expected to contend- The division has been described as the group of death-
Donald was an eight-time first-team All-Pro before his retirement- He is 35 years old, not 45,and he is coming off two years of rest- His best football may be behind him, but his “good” could still be devastating for opposing offenses- He does not need to return as the unstoppable monster of his prime- If he is simply competent, the combination of him and Garrett already creates a problem every offense must answer-
The Rams open their season in Australia, a long trip from their home base- There has been talk of an undefeated season, which is considered over the top- But the expectation is real- Donald is being paid around $20 million, with incentives that could push the deal closer to $30 million- Availability and productivity will be the measure of his return-
The final known reality is this- If Aaron Donald is merely good, the Rams already have a problem for every offense in the NFL- If he somehow looks like the old Aaron Donald, then the entire league has a much bigger problem-
