Make that two future first-ballot Hall of Famers on the Los Angeles Rams defensive line, and this one is quite familiar with the organization, unlike Myles Garrett who was acquired via trade on June 1.
Jordan Schultz reported the return of Aaron Donald to the Rams roster after he retired following the 2023 season:
With this late-August add, the Rams now have five of the last nine Defensive Players of the Year on their defensive front.
Donald, now 35, last played in the wild-card round on January 14, 2024, a narrow defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions.
Of course this now means the Bills are set to see Donald — along with Garrett, who otherwise would never get second billing in a sentence like this — when Buffalo travels to Los Angeles to face the Rams in Week 5, on Monday Night Football October 12. I’m already giddy about that game.
In the 2023-2024 season with the Rams, Donald amassed a whopping 87 pressures on 596 pass-rush snaps — including playoff games — which amounted to a massive 14.5% pressure rate. Anything above 10% for a defensive tackle is outstanding. As far as classic stats go, Donald had 53 tackles, eight sacks, and 16 tackles for loss during that regular season.
While he is distinctly in his mid-30s now, Donald regularly reminds everyone of his 1.4 million Instagram followers that he’s stayed in fantastic shape. However, being even as outrageously in shape as Donald is and being in ready-to-play NFL football shape are often very different.
But now, after a third massive acquisition of the offseason for the Rams, the Bills offensive front will be tasked with facing Donald in what will be a Week 5 primetime matchup that features a constellation of stars on both sides of the ball.
