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A first-round draft pick from 2014, Aaron Donald is going into his ninth NFL season after winning a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. He has never earned a PFF grade below 90.0 over a full season and has been the league’s best pass-rusher — at any position — since entering the NFL.
| Season | PFF Overall Grade | PFF Grade Rank |
| 2021 | 93.6 | 1st of 144 |
| 2020 | 94.5 | 1st of 137 |
| 2019 | 93.6 | 1st of 123 |
| 2018 | 95.3 | 1st of 130 |
| 2017 | 94.0 | 1st of 133 |
| 2016 | 92.6 | 1st of 139 |
| 2015 | 92.9 | 1st of 140 |
| 2014 | 90.2 | 2nd of 144 |
• Donald is the only interior rusher ever to record 100 or more quarterback pressures in a single season in the PFF era. Only three players have managed this feat, and the other two were edge rushers.
• Donald has tallied 665 pressures since entering the league. The next closest defender (Cameron Jordan) is at 605, and the next interior lineman (Fletcher Cox) is at 520.
• Donald has averaged over 83 pressures a season since entering the NFL. Donald, J.J. Watt and Fletcher Cox are the only interior linemen in the PFF era to exceed that over one season.
• Donald has graded over 90.0 in 50 of his 127 regular-season games. He has 22 more 90.0-plus game grades than the next closest defender, Von Miller, who has played 23 more games.
• Donald has been worth 5.27 wins above replacement since 2014, averaging out at 0.66 wins per season. No interior defender in the PFF era has been more valuable.
• Going back to 2006, Donald owns six of the top nine single-season pressure totals among interior defensive linemen, including the top two.
• Donald owns the four best single-season PFF grades ever given to an interior defender and seven of the best eight.
• Donald has won 22.2% of his pass-rush snaps since 2014, first among interior defenders with at least 1,000 pass-rush snaps. Second place, J.J. Watt, ranks second over that span at 18.9%.
• Donald has either sacked or hit the quarterback 228 times since 2014, 22 more than second place over that period.
• No defensive lineman has more tackles for loss or no gain since 2014 than Donald, who has 115.
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