Los Angeles Rams Interior defensive lineman Aaron Donald was named to his 8th AP All-Pro team roster this week. Only 12 players have earned that many selections and no defender has bested that amount. Donald joins Bruce Smith, Reggie White, and Lawrence Taylor in the 8-timers club. Only Taylor got to his 8th selection faster than Donald. Donald got eight in 10 seasons. Taylor did it in nine.
Only Jerry Rice– WR (10), Jim Otto– C (10), Ron Mix– OL (9) and Anthony Munoz-T (9) have more.
With one more selection, Donald could hold the record for most first-team AP All-Pro selections by a defensive play
Donald also leads all active players in first-team All-Pro selections. Dallas Cowboys Guard Zach Martin earned his seventh this year. Bobby Wagner is the next closest active defender with 6 first-team selections. He earned a second-team selection this year.
Comparing Aaron Donald To Other All-Pro Defenders
Aaron Donald is far behind the other legends on this list when it comes to total sacks. Bruce Smith leads the way with 200, with Reggie White not far behind. Lawrence Taylor is 9th all-time with 142 total sacks. Donald is 40th on the list with 111 career sacks.
But when looking at sacks per game played, Donald is much closer. Over his career, he has a rate of .721 sacks per game. Reggie White leads the quartet at an incredible .853, then Taylor at .772, then Donald, then Smith at .717.
If Donald played as many games as Bruce Smith and maintained his sack rate he would finish his career with 201 sacks. That said, Donald would have to play another 7 seasons to get to Smith’s game log.
Of course, this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Donald is a defensive tackle, Smith and White were defensive ends and Taylor was a linebacker.
