THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams defensive end Robert Quinn was talking about J.J. Watt likely not playing the rest of this season, when suddenly he chuckled.
"Maybe this year someone else gets the Defensive Player [of the Year Award]," Quinn said.
Maybe that someone else resides on Quinn's defensive line.
That, of course, would be Aaron Donald, who has only solidified his standing as the game's best interior pass-rusher through the first quarter of this season, even though the sacks didn't come until Week 4. Donald has registered an NFL-leading 11 quarterback hits and, all told, 25 total pressures -- on pace for 100, 21 more than the NFL-leading 79 he put up last year.
Keep in mind: It's defensive ends that are constantly in better position for sacks, not tackles like Donald.
"He is such a good football player," Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. "He can do so many things I can’t even coach."
Williams raved about Donald's performance in Week 3. The Rams were short-handed on the defensive line, so Donald lined up several times as a defensive end and, in Williams' mind, played seven different positions in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- all four spots in packages with four defensive linemen and all three spots in packages with three defensive linemen.
In Week 4, a 17-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Donald recorded four hits on the quarterback, 2 1/2 tackles for a loss and finished with 1 1/2 sacks. On the last one, he teamed up with Eugene Sims to knock Carson Palmer out of the game.
"I know those plays are going to come," Donald said. "I just have to play my game."
Pro Football Focus graded Donald as the best overall player in the NFL in 2015 and has given him its highest grade this year, with a score of 95.3. No interior player is even within seven total pressures of Donald, who has spent just 20 of his 232 snaps lined up outside of the opposing offensive tackle, according to Pro Football Focus. Donald's pass-rush rating (96.9) is appreciably higher than the next interior lineman, Malik Jackson of the Jacksonville Jaguars (82.5). His run-defense grade (84.2) ranks second only to the Miami Dolphins' Ndamukong Suh (86.7).
"He’s as good a power-rusher as they come," Rams defensive line coach Mike Waufle said of Donald. "I was with the greatest power-rusher in the history of the NFL, in my opinion, in Michael Strahan, and he has every bit of that."
Watt was named the Associated Press' Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in February. But some believed that honor should've gone to Donald, who received seven votes from a panel of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters who regularly cover the NFL (Watt got 37 of the remaining 43). Asked about Watt re-injuring his back and ultimately being placed on injured reserve, Donald said: "It's tough for him. You never want to hear about a guy being injured, missing a season. Definitely not a guy who plays at such a high level as that guy."
But with Watt out, Donald is the unquestioned most dominant defender in the game.
