Aaron Donald is somehow pressuring QBs at a higher rate than last year
Cameron DaSilva
[
theramswire.usatoday.com]
Aaron Donald put together one of the most dominant seasons by a defensive tackle in 2017, earning the second-highest grade of any player in the league from Pro Football Focus. His pass-rush grade of 99.7 nearly broke the sites grading scale, leading all players with 91 quarterback pressures despite playing just 14 games.
He tied a career-high with 10 sacks, recorded 15 tackles for loss and hit the quarterback 27 times, constantly finding himself in the opposing backfield. Yet, as good as he was last year, he’s on an even greater pace in 2018.
Through nine games, Donald has 10 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 21 quarterback hits and 30 total tackles. Somehow, he’s pressuring quarterbacks at a higher rate than he did last season, too.
In 2017, his pressure rate was 19.6 percent – the highest of any interior defender since 2013. This season, he’s pressuring the quarterback 20.1 percent of the time, which is tops in the league at his position.
In addition to pressure percentage, Donald shares the PFF-era lead in total pressures through Week 9 by a defensive interior with the 2014 version of Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt at 61. His 26.3% pressure percentage on third and fourth down this season also ranks ahead of his 2017 mark of 25.0% and now leads all defensive interiors with 50-plus pass-rush snaps on such downs through the first nine weeks of a season in the PFF era.
If Donald can keep up this torrid pace, he’s going to put together a historic season. There may not be a more dominant player in the league right now.
