How addition of Aaron Donald could transform the Rams into a defensive superteam

Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald hinted at coming out of retirement earlier this month when he said, "it's a possibility." The Rams may be Super Bowl favorites without Donald, but last year showed exactly why Los Angeles made big splashes on defense and why the trades for Trent McDuffie, Myles Garrett, and the possible return of Donald could take them from championship hopefuls to actually raising another Lombardi Trophy.

The Rams' defense picked up right where it left off in 2025 after racking up 16 sacks in two playoff games in 2024. The unit led the NFL in defensive efficiency over the first 11 games of last season only to fall apart down the stretch, kissing its chances of a Super Bowl goodbye. 

The Rams ranked 25th in defensive efficiency over their final nine games. Some of the performances were flat-out embarrassing. They allowed five 30-point games, including two to the Panthers. Bryce Young went off on them in Week 13 (15-for-20, three touchdowns, no picks). Amon-Ra St. Brown (13 catches, 164 yards, two touchdowns) torched them in Week 15. Bijan Robinson showcased a track meet on national TV (229 scrimmage yards) in an upset in Week 17. Jalen Coker came out of nowhere to light them up in the playoffs (134 receiving yards) and Sam Darnold (346 yards, three touchdowns) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (10 catches, 153 yards, one score) finished the job in the NFC title game.

They allowed more individual 130-yard receiving games down the stretch (five) than any team allowed for the entire season. The young pass rush wasn't getting home enough and the secondary had no answers for elite wideouts like Smith-Njigba.

That should change in 2026. If Donald does decide to return after two seasons out of the league, the Rams would tie an NFL record for most first-team All-Pro defenders added in a single offseason between McDuffie, Garrett and Donald. 

How effective would Donald and Garrett be?

If you're like me, you're giddy about the thought of maybe the best defensive tackle ever and the new single-season sack record holder on the same defensive line. The NFL has featured the "Fearsome Foursome," the "Steel Curtain," the "Purple People Eaters" and the "New York Sack Exchange." None would have the credentials of Donald and Garrett. They would be the first pair of players with multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards to play together. 

At the very least, this duo would be better than what Von Miller and Donald did together in 2021 when Los Angeles won the Super Bowl. Miller made his Rams debut in Week 10 after a midseason trade, and the two put up solid numbers in the regular season (11.5 combined sacks and 14% pressure rate) before flipping a switch in the playoffs. They abused Joe Burrow to the tune of four sacks in the Super Bowl, including Donald's game-winning pressure. That might be the floor for Garrett and Miller. Garrett is better and younger than Miller was at that point in his career. Donald would strengthen as the season goes along and turn it up come crunch time as they did in 2021, too.

It's not a stretch to expect Garrett and Donald to be the best pass-rushing duo in the NFL. Last year, that was Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. They combined for 176 pressures (and 27.0 sacks), the most by any duo on record (PFF data goes back to 2017 there).

The dream scenario for NFL scriptwriters is this pair somehow repeating their record-breaking years (Garrett had an NFL-record 23.0 sacks last year, and Donald had a DT-record 20.5 sacks in 2018). The most combined sacks in a season by a duo is 39.0, set by Chris Doleman and Keith Millard for the 1989 Vikings.

How much could Donald play?

If Donald returns, he would join Deion Sanders as the only first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famers (yes, Donald will be first ballot) to return after at least two years out of the league. We can probably temper our early-season expectations for the Donald, Garrett duo as Donald eases back. Maybe that's part of the Rams sales pitch to lure Donald out of retirement, too.

Donald was still the best defensive tackle in the NFL when he last laced them up in 2023. But, he did so while playing a career-low 80% of snaps, saving it for big downs (he played 93% of third-down snaps). The Rams already have a formidable defensive tackle duo in Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske, so Los Angeles could sell Donald on a rotation like Dallas had in 2025. Kenny Clark, Osa Odighizuwa and Quinnen Williams all played around two-thirds of the snaps after the Cowboys' blockbuster deadline deal for Williams.

Donald won't be as confined to such an arrangement (he played 30+ snaps at six different spots on the defensive line in 2023) but it's an enticing proposition for someone who has not played in two years and wants to be fresh down the stretch.

Rams' pass rush would be light years better

Jared Verse was a pressure machine last year (80 pressures and 16.4% pressure rate in 2025 compared with 84 pressures and 17.5% pressure rate for Garrett), but not all pressures are created equal (Verse recorded 7.0 sacks to Garrett's 23.0). Just look at Donald's game-winning play in the Super Bowl. 

It doesn't go down in the stat sheet as a sack, but it's the most impactful type of pressure you could ever have. Some pressures force quarterbacks to throw it early or maybe hit a checkdown. Others, like superhuman athletes with unparalleled power and explosiveness, such as Garrett and Donald, completely blow up a play. 

Just check out the defensive numbers provided by Sportradar when the three aforementioned players are the ones credited with the pressure. The Rams allowed 4.43 yards per play on Verse's career pressures. That figure is 3.46 with Donald, and the Browns' number is 2.13 with Garrett.

This would take the Rams defense to another stratosphere. They were great at getting pressure last year, but it didn't do damage. They were top five in pressure rate last year despite blitzing at a bottom-five rate in football. Generating pressure without blitzing is usually a perfect recipe for disruption on defense, but not always. The Rams were among the worst teams in defending the pass when they actually got pressure. In the last two seasons, they turned pressures into sacks at the ninth-worst rate in football (17.5%) and ranked 25th in yards per attempt with pressure.

Garrett has the most sacks per game (0.94) of any player in NFL history, and Donald has the most (0.72) for any defensive tackle. Whether it's sacks or pressure, they could be a nightmare for quarterbacks and a blessing for the rest of the pass rush. They demand so many double teams, which means a lot of one-on-one opportunities for studs like Byron Young and Turner to exploit.

The pass rush will feed into the revamped secondary

The Rams' pass rush with Donald and Garrett would be so lucrative that it would feed families on the entire Los Angeles defense. Thankfully, though, this will be a two-way street with the additions of McDuffie and Jaylen Watson. 

Quarterbacks are going to have less time to throw against this Rams pass rush, meaning less time for receivers to get open. McDuffie and Watson can also keep those windows closed longer, giving the pass rush time to get home. The Chiefs played the highest press coverage rate (87%) in the NFL last year with those two on the outside, while the Rams ranked 20th in that category (57%).

McDuffie and Watson are going to bring a much-needed physicality to a Rams defense that has allowed more 100-yard receiving games to wide receivers than any other team in the NFL since Jalen Ramsey left town three seasons ago. Los Angeles ranked 29th in yards per attempt allowed to wide receivers on passes outside the numbers last year. Smith-Njigba ran circles around them last year to the tune of 354 yards in three games. The Rams need an answer for him. They probably need to answer for Kyle Shanahan (and perhaps Mike Evans, too). In a Week 5 overtime loss last year, Mac Jones threw for over 340 yards vs. the Rams, including over 140 to Kendrick Bourne. That's an embarrassing defensive performance and one reason Los Angeles said "F them picks" again and made moves for McDuffie and Garrett.

Rams could be the best team on both sides of the ball

The NFL rarely plays out as it should on paper, but if there was ever going to be a team with the No. 1 scoring offense and defense, it would be the 2026 Rams with the reigning MVP (Matthew Stafford) throwing to the all-time leader in receiving yards per game (Puka Nacua) and a future Hall of Famer (Davante Adams). Plus, Garrett and Donald are forming the most feared pass-rushing duo ever. Only two teams since the merger have scored the most points and allowed the fewest in a season. The 1972 Dolphins (perfect season) and the 1996 Packers (Brett Favre's only Super Bowl win). Those are the kind of expectations that should be set for a Rams team if Donald blows up the offseason and comes out of retirement to chase a second ring.