The most frightening stat behind Aaron Donald’s return to the Rams

Posted by Admin August 31, 2026 NFL

Myles Garrett has a new running mate in Los Angeles. And another former Defensive Player of the Year at that.

Aaron Donald made it official on Sunday, ending weeks of speculation by announcing that he was indeed coming out of retirement to play for the Los Angeles Rams. Donald walked away from the game following the 2023 season despite continuing to play at a high level, as he recorded 8.5 sacks for the Rams during that final season.

With Garrett on the edge and Donald coming back along the defensive front, Los Angeles has a pair of standout pass rushers to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

But there is one stat, however, that should terrify the rest of the NFC.

This is a defense that was already rather good at getting pressure on opposing passers before Garrett arrived, and Donald returned.

As set forth in Aaron Schatz’s FTN Football Almanac previewing the 2026 season, last year the Rams pressured opposing quarterbacks at a rate of 31% when sending the four standard pass rushers after the quarterback:

Jared Verse was part of that mix, yet he is now playing for the Cleveland Browns as part of the Garrett trade. Beyond Verse, however, the Rams called on players like Byron Young on the edge and Kobie Turner on the inside to help generate some of that pressure. Turner, for example, ranked fifth in ESPN’s “Pass Rush Win Rate” statistic for defensive tackles.

Now Garrett and Donald are coming to help. Garrett ranked sixth in Pass Rush Win Rate among edge defenders a season ago, while Donald led all defensive tackles in that metric during the 2023 season, his last in the NFL.

The Rams have been our No. 1 team in the power rankings since the Garrett trade. LA is currently betting favorites to win the Super Bowl at +500 on FanDuel, while the next closest team, the Buffalo Bills, is +1000. Donald is 35 years old and hasn’t played football in two years, which might lead you to lower your expectations for him. But he’s also an all-time great who got to rest his body for two years before returning the fray.

And that should indeed scare the rest of the league.