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Aaron Donald is the best player in the NFL

Discussion in 'General NFL Talk' started by Benny Lava, Feb 14, 2022.

  1. Benny Lava

    Benny Lava Well-Known Member

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    He should have won SB MVP last night. Crazy that he could retire at age 30 and be a HOF already.

    Glad a Pittsburgh boy is the best player in the NFL.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  2. Rush2seven

    Rush2seven Well-Known Member

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    Disagree, he’s a great player on the best team this year. The best player in the NFL tied the single season sack record this year.
     
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  3. FeartheBeard

    FeartheBeard Well-Known Member

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    Exactly!!
     
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  4. Jim90

    Jim90 Well-Known Member

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    He used to be the best.. TJ is now.
     
  5. Karl

    Karl Well-Known Member

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    Aaron Donald is a Hall of Fame Player but as mentioned there is a guy right here that has a say in who is the best.
    TJ pulls off a play like that last one, almost every week.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  6. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    Benny was looking for attention
     
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  7. Benny Lava

    Benny Lava Well-Known Member

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    I don't disagree with TJ winning DPOY, but do you think TJ could have pulled off Donald's performance last night?
     
  8. troybellringer55

    troybellringer55 Well-Known Member

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    Aaron Donald is a modern day Mean Joe Greene, he may even be better.

    For only being 6" 1" foot tall and 285, for his size I don 't think I've seen a D-Linemen stronger than he is for actually being quote on quote undersized.

    But James Harrison is similar, not tall or huge but massively built and there was nobody stronger.
     
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  9. Hanratty#5

    Hanratty#5 Well-Known Member

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    Donald had 5 tackles and 2 sacks last night. That is a routine game for TJ.
     
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  10. FeartheBeard

    FeartheBeard Well-Known Member

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    Yes.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
  11. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    Aaron Donald does not have a direct peer to peer competitor among Defensive Tackles and never mind Interior Defensive Lineman overall. For me, that is very important in terms of deciding who is the best of the best; how much better you are versus others within your positional group; comparing that player to others next. Examples? Cooper Kupp is the best Receiver in the league... but by how much? Do not forget the likes of DeVante Adams, Deebo Samuel or even Justin Jefferson. What about Safeties? Sure some can say the likes of Jordan Poyer or even Budda Baker but others like Derwin James or Minkah Fitzpatrick still exist. Heck, as crazy as this will sound, T.J. Watt has been the NFL's best EDGE for some time... but not one I can comfortably state he is unopposed; Joey Bosa, Myles Garrett and even Cameron Jordan being the close seconds here. Keep in mind though that the whole aspect of "being unopposed" can change for T.J. in future to being such.... it is just not now at present.



    Aaron Donald??... it is literally him and no one else. Whomever is a close second to him... is not laughably a close second. Now, to determine if he is the NFL's Best Player, again, I will be using the same metric as I always have. Is Aaron Donald the best player in the NFL? For me... yes and no. He is the second best for sure but not the best among players. Defensively speaking? You got me there at present; T.J. Watt included. Patrick Mahomes, to me, is the best player in the NFL. Now again, Mahomes is not the de facto best QB in the game unanimously... not anymore. Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers and even Justin Herbert are all worthy opponents for the top spot. However, what separates Mahomes from others is his freakish arm talent and freakish overall abilities as a whole for QB Standards. Realistically speaking, unlike the other QBs I have listed, the only person who can defeat Patrick Mahomes... is Patrick Mahomes; this years 2021 AFC Title game being a great starting point. Regarding Aaron Donald, much of the same can be said... minus one major issue. Unlike Mahomes, who best bet is to have self inflicting wounds, Aaron Donald's shortcomings are not of his own but those he plays against. Teams actively scheme against Donald like they do Mahomes and, like Mahomes, there is more to worry about than just Donald alone. The biggest shortcoming though is that while Donald has been shown to be quite limited if said game plan is successful... one really cannot do that to Mahomes.. or rather nearly as often. Donald may go a game or two without much impact which is again, part of the opposing team's game plan. The same cannot be said for Mahomes going games without throwing a single Touchdown pass as such a feat is currently nigh impossible; nigh used here as it did happen once.. in the Super Bowl against the likes of the Bucs.



    In short? While I believe that Aaron Donald is the best Defensive Player in the game, he is not the best player overall. That honor still goes to Mahomes despite his growing list of challengers. Other QBs may have a better attribute than Mahomes such as Josh Allen's arm strength or even Lamar Jackson's running ability but no QB has a combination of all of those wrapped into one the way Mahomes does.
     
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  12. bradshaw12

    bradshaw12 Well-Known Member

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    Would you be talking about mahomes the same way if he had been with the Jaguars the last four years? I highly doubt it. Aaron Donald would be a super star on any team.
     
  13. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    The team based aspect is out of Mahomes' control. For that matter, Burrow actually had a quality set of weapons on the Offensive Side of the ball; a far cry from Jacksonville. To merely state that Patrick Mahomes can do it all by himself is quite unfair; Aaron Donald as well. Ranking the best NFL Players has a alot more to do with stats. Ranking players should be based on how well they fare against their peers and, most importantly, how much ahead are they versus others. As stated already, Mahomes has an ever growing list of challengers versus Donald who seemingly has none. However, despite this, Mahomes has proven he is NFL's Jack of All Trades when it comes to QBs; one that does not have an absolute trait but one that does everything very well to great. That alone is still why he is number one among QBs for many; the other attributes unique to him previously stated doubly so.


    Now in regards to being a One Man Army, something that is impossible in the NFL, see the Detroit Lions version of Matt Stafford; the one including Megatron the same.
     
  14. shaner82

    shaner82 Well-Known Member

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    To do what he does while playing on the interior of the line is impressive. There's a very strong argument that he is the best defensive player in the game. It's impossible to compare offensive vs defensive players.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  15. FootballAnalyst98

    FootballAnalyst98 Well-Known Member

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    Different positions.
     
  16. FootballAnalyst98

    FootballAnalyst98 Well-Known Member

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  17. 4124life

    4124life Well-Known Member

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    Brady embarrassed pat in the super bowl and was still better than him this past season. He’s one of the best qbs now that tb retired. His recent play doesn’t solidify him being the best, not even remotely.
     
  18. steel machine

    steel machine Well-Known Member

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    I do take pride he is a Pittsburgh guy but how the hell can you choose a best player in football. He can't throw a football better then Mason. He can't catch a football better then JuJu. He sure the hell can't kick a football as good as Boz. He could never guard a receiver as good as Minkah so he sure the hell can't be the best player in football.

    He sure the hell was the best at his position for a lot of years.
     
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  19. FootballAnalyst98

    FootballAnalyst98 Well-Known Member

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    his dline embarrassed the chiefs oline. Like what we saw happen to Brady 2x against the giants. Switch pat and Brady and you think the chiefs beat the bucs last year? No.
     
    • Informative Informative x 1
  20. Rush2seven

    Rush2seven Well-Known Member

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    OP didn’t say best at his position, it said best player in the NFL.
     
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  21. FootballAnalyst98

    FootballAnalyst98 Well-Known Member

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    I was talking about comparing their sack numbers.
     
  22. FosterMorris

    FosterMorris Well-Known Member

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  23. 4124life

    4124life Well-Known Member

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    What stats did pat outdo Brady in this season ?
     
  24. FootballAnalyst98

    FootballAnalyst98 Well-Known Member

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    What's your point?
     

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