0:00

One. Welcome into the first episode

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of Joe Thomas's film Room. I'm your host

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Andrew Gribble, and over the coming weeks, Brown's

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Great Joe Thomas will join me to break down

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some of the best pass rushers he's ever gone up

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against. Today, we kick off the series

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talking about arguably the best pass rusher in the

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game, two time Defensive Player of the Year,

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Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams.

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All right, Joe, this is one of the most disruptive

0:22

players in the NFL right now. And Aaron Donald.

0:24

He's kind of a different kind of athlete,

0:27

a smaller player at the defensive tackle

0:29

position, but really a guy that's inspiring

0:31

teams to look for the next Aaron Donald because

0:34

of how disruptive he is in the middle of the offensive

0:36

line. Yeah, he is an

0:38

incredible talent, incredibly strong,

0:41

powerful, quick, uses

0:43

his hands really well. He flips his hips to be

0:45

able to get past defenders and close

0:47

the distance to the quarterback. It's

0:49

interesting when he was coming out in the draft,

0:52

he actually slid I mean, he was still

0:54

a mid first round pick, but he slid

0:56

down to where he finished because

0:58

they thought he was too small to play inside,

1:01

which is funny because actually one of his best

1:03

attributes right now is his height and his smallness,

1:06

even though we wouldn't normally think six to eighty

1:10

is small, but for an inside defensive tackle,

1:12

that's a smaller player. But he

1:15

uses that leverage to his advantage. It's really hard

1:17

for bigger lineman to get underneath

1:19

his pads, to get their hands inside on him,

1:21

and to be able to stop his forward momentum.

1:24

So he really uses that shortness

1:26

of stature, that leverage, that powerful

1:28

leg drive that he has to his advantage to

1:31

be the best inside pass rusher inside

1:33

defensive tackle in the NFL, and probably one of the

1:35

best of all time. Yeah, and now, with the

1:37

NFL the way things of involved quarterbacks getting the

1:39

ball out a lot quicker, some of these outside

1:41

pass rushers don't have the time to even

1:44

get to the quarterback because the ball is getting out so quick. How

1:46

much can an interior pass

1:48

rusher like this disrupt and how much more

1:50

important or guys like this going to be as the game keeps

1:52

evolving. That's been the conversation in the NFL

1:54

for the last five or so years because

1:57

you see all these quarterbacks, they're not dropping deep

1:59

in the pocket anymore like they used to. They're

2:01

throwing the ball much quicker. There's far fewer

2:03

seven step drops just from

2:05

the shotgun, and those outside

2:08

pass rushers are having a harder time getting there. Whereas

2:10

in the old days there was a lot of seven step

2:12

drops. Quarterbacks were pretty much

2:15

nine and a half ten yards deep standing

2:17

there like statues on almost every play think

2:19

Kurt Warner Greatest Show on Turf from the

2:21

early two thousands, and those outside pass

2:23

rushers they could have a field day because they

2:25

line up wide, they run to that spot ten yards

2:27

behind the center, and that's where the quarterback is gonna

2:30

be. Every time, you had a lot less

2:32

play action passes that you

2:34

see the for the forty Niner

2:36

is doing with Kyle Shannon, and you see the Rams

2:38

doing it, you see the Falcons. A lot

2:41

of these really good offenses are throwing

2:43

a heavy dose of play action in there, which is taken

2:46

the place of some of these just seven step

2:48

drop backs where the quarterbacks holding

2:50

the ball. So, because of the changes

2:52

in the NFL, the inside pass

2:54

should become a lot more important because

2:56

his distance to where the quarterback is

2:58

is a lot shorter than it is from the

3:01

outside pass. Rusher the defensive end position.

3:03

Additionally, what we're seeing, and Myles

3:06

Garrett is seeing a lot of this right now, is when

3:08

you have a good edge pass rusher, it's really easy

3:10

to put a tight end in there and bang him right off the line

3:12

of scrimmage, or to add a running back

3:14

or to turn the line in his directions, so you

3:17

can get two on ones really easily

3:19

on those outside guys, and because of how far they

3:21

have to go, that extra half

3:23

a second when the tight end hits them before

3:25

they can get started and get working towards the quarterback

3:28

really almost eliminates their

3:30

ability to get any type of a sack. And a lot of

3:32

times what you'll see is once those outside

3:34

pass rushers do get that double team,

3:37

they kind of almost stop on that player. They'll

3:39

try to loop inside because they know they don't

3:41

don't have a chance to get up the field

3:43

and get the sack because the quarterback is not that deep

3:45

anymore and he's throwing the ball much quicker. But

3:47

that's why the Aaron Donalds are so important,

3:49

because from an inside standpoint,

3:51

it's really hard to get a double team on

3:54

a three technique, which is that technique

3:56

where you line up right on the outside

3:58

of an offensive guard, and that's typically

4:00

where Aaron Donald shows up. The tackle

4:03

can't come down and double team for the most part,

4:05

because then you've got a tight end blocking the defensive

4:08

end. All you can really try to do is

4:10

send the center in that direction. But if

4:12

the center is always turning towards their good

4:14

pass rusher, it opens up a lot of

4:16

issues from the guys on the other side because

4:18

now you always have one on ones with your

4:20

off guard and then your other tackle in

4:23

In addition, if your center has always turned into

4:25

one direction, what you get a lot is these

4:28

tackle tackle games on the inside. So

4:30

if I know I'm Alex McK and he's always

4:32

turning towards Aaron Donald in this game, they're

4:35

gonna try to penetrate with that offside

4:37

uh nose guard and get to Alex's

4:39

hip and then run those inside games,

4:42

which are a lot more effective when you know which

4:44

direction the center is moving. So it's

4:46

a lot harder to double team

4:48

those inside guys than it is the outside guys.

4:51

Another reason why Aaron Donald has been so effective,

4:53

and you know, not a lot of teams we always talk about

4:55

the big contracts, the tackles get and we talk

4:58

about the pass rushes that get they go to ends,

5:00

but not many teams have a Joel Patonio at guard.

5:02

I mean, this is an area where Aaron Donald can be matched up

5:04

with a guy he can really take advantage of. And

5:06

even as we watch some of this film, I mean, Joel Patoni is

5:08

really good and he may have buy pretty miserable.

5:10

For Yeah, it's it's a tough matchup

5:13

for any guard. Um Joels

5:15

are really good athletes. So that's from

5:18

Aaron's perspective, probably one of the harder matchups

5:20

he's gonna see all year. Because if you have

5:22

a big, fat, sloppy guard, Aaron

5:25

Donald is gonna just beat him with quickness. If

5:27

you have a skinny guard who's athletic, Aaron's

5:29

gonna run you over. So that's one

5:31

of the things if you want to be a

5:33

Hall of Fame or a Pro Bowl level defensive

5:36

lineman, you've got to be able to beat guys with

5:38

speed and quickness, and you've got to be able to beat guys

5:40

with just overpowering them.

5:43

Because you're gonna see offensive linemen that

5:45

are big and sloppy and strong,

5:47

and you're gonna see offensive lineman that are skinny and

5:49

weak but great athletes, and you've got

5:51

to be able to beat them with whatever their weaknesses. Yeah,

5:54

and unfortunately for you, you only have to face him

5:56

once. Thankfully, Browns don't have to face the Rams

5:58

all that often there, So he's not on this edule

6:00

very much. He's on the schedule in two to watch

6:02

out for that. But if you just watch roll through

6:04

here, this is his second year in the NFL, he'd

6:06

already started making an impact. What about

6:09

him on these kind of players? Are you seeing where he's

6:11

just totally disrupting what you're trying to do. So, just watching

6:13

this play from the start, you can see how much quicker

6:15

Aaron is getting off the ball. Just

6:17

watching the get off, which

6:20

is defensive line coach term

6:22

for when the ball is snapped. How quickly

6:24

are you reacting as a defensive player and moving

6:27

And if we watch Aaron Donald on this, you

6:30

can see how much sooner he is

6:32

reacting than the rest of his linemates.

6:34

Now, the average person would say, oh, that's

6:36

a split second. Well, in the game of football

6:38

in the trenches, a split second is the difference

6:40

between a sack and not even coming close

6:42

to the quarterback. Additionally, it's all about

6:45

getting your feet in the ground. For an offensive

6:47

lineman, you oftentimes want to get two feet in

6:49

the ground before you make contact because that will give you

6:51

a base and give you balance. If you're only

6:53

going to get one foot in the ground, that means you're on

6:55

one leg, which puts you off balance

6:57

and then gives the defensive

7:00

I'm in the advantage and and he can kind of dictate

7:02

to you. So it's all about getting that first

7:04

step in the ground. So you can see Aaron's inside

7:06

foot is back. He's taken that longer

7:08

first step, but it's quick and he's able

7:10

to get it in the ground quickly and get into

7:13

Joel's pads. So as an

7:15

offensive guard, Joel is trying to

7:17

keep Aaron away from his pads because

7:19

that's where he can kind of control

7:21

where he goes. Once that defensive lineman

7:23

is up into Joel's pads, it makes it

7:25

really difficult for him to be able to push him

7:27

off. And right now we're seeing what's known as

7:30

a t which is a tackle and stunt

7:32

where the tackle goes up the field and the end tries

7:35

to loop around. It's up to the guard

7:37

to be able to push the defensive tackle over

7:39

to the offensive tackle so that I can pass

7:42

it off with Joel. But you see right

7:44

here, in spite of us

7:46

attempting to pass it off and in spite of me

7:49

trying to set back and square,

7:51

which gives us the best opportunity to pass

7:53

it off, because Aaron penetrates so

7:55

quickly and up into Jeel's pads so

7:58

soon he's not able to give him

8:00

the punch, and he's not able to send Aaron

8:02

across to me for me to be able to grab

8:04

him with my inside arm and actually throw

8:07

him back outside to where I am so

8:09

that Joel can get passed off onto the looper,

8:11

who is Robert Quinn in this situation, and

8:13

what you see and what

8:16

Josh McCown recognizes is now

8:18

what you have is both defensive linemen

8:21

are inside of the offensive

8:23

tackle, which is the A and the B gap, So

8:25

the C gap is now open. So a good athlete

8:27

like Josh McCown, he's able to see that

8:30

now these guys are in his face, and a

8:32

lot of times that causes issues for a quarterback,

8:34

but it has opened up that sea gap for

8:36

Josh to be able to escape and to get outside

8:39

the pocket and make some place. If you have a stiff

8:41

quarterback like let's say Tom Brady,

8:43

even a Drew Brees, they're not as good

8:45

at being able to see this and escaping

8:47

and throwing on the run. So a team

8:49

like the St. Louis Rams at this time aren't

8:51

going to be as concerned about letting

8:53

a quarterback get outside the pocket. Now,

8:55

if Baker Mayfield's back there, there's no way

8:58

they're going to run this game and allow too is inside

9:00

and let the quarterback get outside, because

9:02

we all know how dangerous Baker is at throwing

9:04

once he's outside the pocket. So what you're

9:06

gonna see here is once

9:09

I realized that, uh,

9:11

Aaron has not been sent all the way over to me, and we're

9:13

not gonna be able to pass this off. I'm just trying

9:16

to wash all three guys, Joel

9:18

and both defenders inside

9:20

into the pocket to be able to give Josh

9:22

the space he needs to be able to escape and

9:24

try to make a play down the field. And if you

9:27

look for a split second, if

9:29

Josh was actually looking back to his

9:31

right, which you're not not supposed to really throw back

9:33

across the field, but you got

9:35

Travis Benjamin running down the field with his arm

9:37

up to say, hey, I can see,

9:39

I can see, I'm open. It is a tough

9:42

throw and the window is short because if you

9:44

pause it right here, everyone's gonna say, oh,

9:46

look at Travis. But by the time the ball

9:48

goes fifty yards in the air that it's supposed

9:50

to, this offside corner safety

9:53

right here is going to be able to play back and to fall

9:55

back onto that deep route.

9:57

And so for Josh, he would have had to throw it either

10:00

before this to get it there to beat

10:02

that safety or corner that's fallen off

10:05

kind of from the the boundary there.

10:07

So Josh makes a wise decision

10:09

and just kind of touchs it and gets what he

10:11

can. The very next play

10:13

we're gonna watch actually is

10:16

another t E game over

10:18

Joel and I. But Joel does a much

10:20

better job sending Aaron

10:22

Donald all the way over to me. And actually

10:25

you notice that Aaron doesn't get

10:27

off the snap quite as quickly, so it

10:29

gives Joel an opportunity to extend his arms,

10:31

put his put Joel's hands on

10:34

Aaron's shoulder pads, send them all the way

10:36

out to me. But the other

10:38

side has a little bit of trouble with the

10:40

game in here. They're running a nose

10:43

end game on the right side, and

10:46

even though it's a three on two, they're not able to

10:48

get off fast enough. And then, even

10:50

though the left side has been taken care of in this case

10:52

for unlike the previous time, the

10:54

right side has given Josh pressure in his face,

10:56

which no quarterback wants to have a

10:59

big, strong, defensive ends screaming

11:02

down his face here right when he's trying to make

11:04

a tight throw to Gary

11:06

barn Rigler with the amazing

11:09

catch across the middle of the field, But that

11:11

just shows a little bit of Josh McCown's toughness.

11:13

He's not able to step into the throw. He knows he's about

11:16

to get smoked in the lower leg, but he still

11:18

throws a really good pass to Gary

11:20

and gets it in there for the first down. You mentioned

11:22

the getoff thing with with Aaron Donald

11:24

and how it was different on the first play than the second

11:26

place. You clearly can't do it every single snap,

11:29

But is there anything offenses

11:31

can do to mess with a guy

11:33

that has that splits get off

11:36

time? And how much harder is it to do when

11:38

you're in their home stadium. Yeah. So

11:40

another guy that always had a really excellent

11:42

get off who is known for it was Kyle

11:45

Williams from the Buffalo Bills,

11:48

And whenever we would play

11:50

him, we would always make an emphasis that week that

11:52

we were going to change up the snap count a lot. We

11:54

were going to go on one, we were gonna go on too, We're

11:56

going to go on a hard three, we were gonna go

11:58

on quick count. Because the more you switch

12:00

up the snap count and you don't give him any of

12:03

those pre snap triggers for him to understand

12:05

when the snap was gonna come, the better it

12:07

was, and the more likely you were going to gain

12:09

that half a split second that

12:12

he needs to be able to get off the field

12:14

and turn the advantage in his

12:17

favor. From the start. You talked about the size,

12:19

and clearly evone held it against him

12:21

in the draft process. But what when

12:23

someone is that kind of freak and that small,

12:25

what what kind of advantage does he have by

12:28

being that small? Yeah, So,

12:30

mostly offensive linemen in the NFL

12:32

are six three six, four, six five,

12:35

and a lot of times the better ones, they're they're

12:37

gonna be good athletes, They're gonna bend really well too.

12:39

But um, Aaron is

12:42

short, really super

12:44

powerful, explosive, and

12:46

he plays low, and so an offensive

12:48

lineman in order to win the leverage battle

12:50

has to be even lower and then get your hands even

12:52

lower to get down there. And a lot of times,

12:55

the lower you go, the more you have to bend, the

12:57

slower you're gonna be. It's just natural. If you

12:59

get down into like a little frog stance, you're not

13:01

gonna be able to move as quickly as you just if

13:03

you're in a nice athletics stance and you just had a little

13:06

bit of a knee bend. So he forces

13:08

guys out of their comfort zone and then

13:10

in order to get that load to try to stop

13:12

his leverage, a lot of times it opens

13:15

you up for a lot of his good counter moves that

13:17

he's built off of, some of his regular

13:19

pass rushes. When you mentioned that

13:21

this is his second year, he's now entering

13:24

kind of the prime of his career, just signed that big

13:26

contract. What is he doing now

13:28

that you're seeing on the field that maybe you didn't see on film

13:31

and thea So I think to

13:33

the average person, you'd watch him and you'd probably

13:35

say he's pretty much the same player. But the

13:39

small details and the

13:41

reaction time that he's going to make

13:44

going from his first move to his counter move

13:46

to me is what really stands out. So if

13:49

he's gonna go and he's gonna slap and

13:52

he's gonna try to rip, if

13:55

that took, you know, a tenth of a second

13:58

in the second year, he's

14:00

gonna go slap, rip, and then he's gonna come back

14:02

to the club, maybe it took him another tenth of a

14:04

second to get to a second move. He's cut

14:06

that in half. So now instead of being

14:08

two tenths of a second to get to a second move,

14:10

he's doing it in point one five seconds,

14:13

which it doesn't sound like a lot, but

14:16

that for an offensive lineman could be the

14:18

difference of having his second foot in the ground or

14:20

having one foot in the air. And when

14:22

you have one foot in the air and now you're out of balance

14:24

and then now you're getting thrown down like a

14:26

cheap suit versus having

14:28

two ft in the ground and being able to just get your hands on him

14:30

and lock on him. So I just think

14:33

his reaction time in a game to

14:35

be able to see what the offensive lineman is trying

14:37

to do to him to break it down and

14:39

to be able to move from did my first

14:41

move win? Okay, didn't win, I'm moving

14:44

to my second move has sped

14:46

up even quicker than it already was. And

14:48

what helps him more now they having

14:51

Dominican Sue out there, which just seems unfair

14:53

to have those kind of guys as defensive tackles. But what

14:55

makes him more dangerous with it being the elite past restaurant

14:57

one side or is it Sue on the other side on it?

15:01

You know? Um, to me, it's

15:03

having another good add dresher, because that causes

15:05

a lot of problems. Um.

15:08

Sue is a good run defender

15:10

and he's very strong,

15:12

but he doesn't have the quick get off that teams

15:14

worry about from that inside position, and

15:16

so I don't think he's had as much of an impact

15:19

as people want to say he has.

15:21

With Aaron Donald. I think Aaron Donald's just planned

15:23

the best we've ever seen from an interior past

15:26

rusher position. Um, if

15:28

they would have like a Miles

15:30

Garrett out there, it wouldn't even be fair because

15:33

now what you'd have to do is turn the

15:35

center to Aaron Donald. So you'd

15:37

always try to have a three on two over there,

15:39

and then you would have to give another

15:41

tight end or another running back

15:44

or somebody else in protection to the

15:46

other side to help with Miles. So

15:48

you're losing two extra guys all

15:51

the time, and almost every one of your protection is just

15:53

to try to manage their pass

15:55

rush. So you're gonna have a guy

15:57

less in the past routes,

16:00

which makes your coverage better because

16:03

you've got an extra defender and

16:06

it would just be unstoppable if they had

16:08

on that drusher like Miles and is

16:11

Can you credit Aaron Donald for helping guys

16:13

like Joel and Kevin Zeitler and everyone get

16:15

these bigger contracts, because it seems like

16:19

this is kind of a him Geno

16:21

Atkins. These guys are revolutionary

16:23

players. I feel like at the position. It is funny

16:25

when you watch the NFL, you see maybe

16:28

twenty years ago we had these Reggie White

16:30

defensive ends, and then when I was a rookie

16:33

Mario Williams, it was all about

16:35

getting these really big, tall,

16:37

physical, fast Julius Pepper's defensive

16:40

ends. Because what had happened

16:43

or excuse me, when you have those big defensive

16:45

ends, um, all of a sudden, then

16:47

the offensive tackles got really big. You're

16:49

Jonathan Ogden's, you know, uh,

16:52

you're Willie Roves, these

16:54

really really massive offensive tackles.

16:56

Then the new generation of pass rushers came

16:58

in, the von Miller's, the Dwight Freenees,

17:01

those smaller, skinnier speed

17:04

guys that we're going to try to the James Harrison's

17:06

take advantage of these huge,

17:09

massive offensive tackles. And so

17:11

now what you have is these smaller,

17:14

more athletic, dominant interior

17:17

defensive lineman allah

17:19

Aaron Donald. And then you have to find

17:22

really really athletic, strong

17:25

offensive guards to be able to block

17:27

guys like that. And so you're Joel Betonios,

17:29

you're Kevin Seiler's. They're getting paid the big

17:31

bucks because Aaron Donald's making

17:33

twenty three million a year. Reckoned

17:36

shop from the inside, and offensive teams

17:39

have to come up with some type of answer

17:41

for an Aaron Donald, for the young aspiring

17:43

Aaron Donald's out there. Is there

17:45

is what he's doing out there god given?

17:47

Or is there some some

17:50

hard what he does behind the scenes that makes

17:52

him as good as good? Anybody in

17:54

the NFL is going to be a blend

17:56

of great genetics and hard work.

17:59

I'm your Aaron Donald works hard. I

18:01

guarantee he works hard, but

18:04

he's not Aaron Donald without the genetic

18:06

code and makeup that he has. And that's

18:08

the same thing with any great player. I've

18:11

yet to see any Pro Bowl player that didn't have

18:13

any great amount of talent. Like, let's

18:16

just be honest. Everyone wants

18:18

the myth to be how hard they work, and

18:20

they work themselves into this. But look,

18:22

Aaron Donald is probably a six or seven

18:24

hundred pound squatter if he hasn't been in the weight room

18:26

for two years. He's just absolutely

18:29

a genetic freak. And then you pair

18:31

that with being a great hard worker and a

18:33

smart player. That's what turns you into

18:35

the best defensive player in the NFL. And

18:37

at the time of where we're filming this, he

18:39

leads the NFL in sacks and I

18:42

can't remember the last time an interior lineman

18:44

has done that. I mean, do you think that's something he

18:46

can replicate or or the Miles Garretts

18:49

and Bond Millers in the world. Are they going to get back

18:51

to Reckon shop at the Yeah,

18:53

you know, it's interesting. Like I mentioned, the offense is

18:55

the way they've changed the way that offense

18:57

is now more focused on the show quick

19:00

passes and you're gonna run the

19:02

play action stuff to get the ball down the field.

19:05

That's neutralized a lot of the

19:07

edge pass rush, but you still

19:09

have this issue with the inside pass rusher. So

19:12

unless offenses changed, which they're

19:14

scoring a lot of points, so I don't see them changing

19:16

a lot in the near future. I think

19:18

that Aaron is going to be this disruptive

19:21

force for many years to come. There's really no

19:23

slowing him down, and unless offense

19:26

has come up with some new type of blocking scheme

19:28

where they maybe hit him with a full

19:30

back out of the backfield, or the only thing

19:32

I could think of is you just line up a fullback

19:35

in the gap between the guard and the tackle, but

19:37

deep enough where he's still an eligible receiver and

19:40

so you're gonna give your guard help in that

19:42

gap somehow. You you maybe

19:44

even bring in an extra offensive linement. This is something

19:46

that Bill Belichick would try because he

19:48

doesn't care if he gets criticism in the

19:50

media. He's willing to try something new

19:52

like that. So this could be one of those

19:54

things where you see Bill Belichick try

19:57

something new and if it works, then it's a copycat

19:59

league, and aybody's gonna try it. But I

20:02

don't see anybody slowing Aaron Donald

20:04

down. And the amazing

20:06

rate which he's sacking quarterbacks, which

20:08

is more than one per game, is incredible.

20:11

His team is always in the lead, it seems

20:13

that helps change. That helps. If you're playing

20:15

on a team that sucks and you're

20:17

not playing with the lead, that's when

20:20

it's hard to get sacks. And this is one thing I've been

20:22

telling Browns fan since Miles got

20:24

here. As a rookie, he didn't have a ton of

20:26

sacks. Granted he had the injuries, but because

20:29

we weren't winning games. Sacks usually

20:31

come when speaking

20:33

from a defensive standpoint, your team is in

20:35

the lead, because that forces the

20:38

offense to stand back there in the quarterback

20:40

to hold onto the ball and throw it if

20:43

it's close or if your team is in the

20:45

lead, your offense is going to have the ball

20:47

and the quarterback is taught not to take sacks

20:50

because that's when turnover has happened, that's when

20:52

drives get stopped. So he's going to stand

20:54

back there and as soon as he gets the ball, he's gonna go

20:57

for one to three.

20:59

The balls out so even if the defensive

21:01

linemen are not blocked, they're not going to get a sack. So

21:04

Miles when he was a rookie, he was

21:06

consistently beating his man, but

21:08

he wasn't getting those opportunities with the

21:10

lead with a quarterback that has

21:12

to hold onto the football throwing the ball down

21:15

the field. But now that the Browns are starting

21:17

to win some games, we're starting to see that Miles is getting

21:19

those sacks, He's getting those opportunities that

21:21

when he beats his man, the quarterback is hanging onto

21:24

the ball, the quarterback is throwing the football

21:26

in the fourth quarter because that team does need to

21:28

keep throwing to keep pace with the Browns offense. Do

21:30

you think we're ever in a situation where

21:32

a guy like this when's the MVP? I know there's been

21:34

there's been talk about it that he should he really

21:37

is the MVP of the rams is

21:39

do you believe in that? It's a It's

21:41

a tough discussion, and I go back and forth in my

21:44

head because on one hand,

21:47

nobody in my generation that

21:49

I can remember has ever played defensive tackle

21:51

better than Aaron Donald is playing

21:53

right now. So you have

21:55

to say that he's

21:58

doing his job so much better than his years

22:00

that he has to get consideration. He's

22:02

also at an impact position. Right There

22:05

was a left tackle a few years ago named Walter

22:07

Jones, and there was a big article in like

22:10

early two thousands that he was the best player in the

22:12

NFL because he was playing left tackle

22:14

so well that he

22:17

was doing his job better with

22:19

with more margin between him

22:21

and the number two guy than any other position

22:24

in football. But when you're the left

22:26

tackle, you have such a small impact on

22:28

the game. All you can do is block the

22:30

guy that's over you, no matter

22:32

how good you are, no matter if you were h

22:36

twelve ft tall and seven pounds and

22:38

rane, you

22:41

can only block the guy across from you. When

22:44

you have the football in your hands or from a defensive

22:46

standpoint, you're affecting the guy with the football

22:48

on his hands. Potentially in every play,

22:51

you're having a big impact. So I

22:53

can easily make a case that this guy

22:55

is the m v P of the league. At the same

22:58

time, if you didn't have Jared

23:00

Goff on offense, would you be

23:02

the same player that you are right now? Would

23:05

you have the impact on the game that you do right now?

23:08

Um, I don't know, because quarterbacks

23:10

still has so much more impact on the outcome

23:12

of every single game than any other

23:14

position. So h

23:17

if there's ever a non quarterback

23:19

that wins m VP, it should be Aaron Donald. This yeah,

23:21

yeah, I'm sure he'll settle for Super Bowl MVP,

23:23

which is probably a lot more realistic I

23:26

would say so, But I tell you what, the

23:28

momentum that Aaron Donald has been getting four

23:30

m v P it's been pretty

23:32

impressive, and it's been as loud of uh

23:35

drumbeat for a non quarterback

23:37

MVP as I can never remember. Thanks for listening

23:40

to this episode of Joe Thomas's Film Room.

23:42

Next week, join us as we break down the great

23:44

James Harrison for Joe Thomas. I'm

23:46

Andrew Gribble. Thanks for listening.