Aaron Donald says Steelers’ T.J. Watt is NFL’s best defensive player

For the bulk of his 10-year career, former Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald carried the title as the best defensive player in the NFL. With Donald having announced his retirement last month, someone has to fill that void. According to Donald himself, that player is T.J. Watt, the star linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I think it’s T.J. Watt,” Donald said this week on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast. “You talk about a guy that’s consistent. Been doing it year in, year out, consistently, that’s gonna get you 15 sacks, 13 sacks, 22 sacks, consistent. He’s the guy who’s been doing it consistently, interceptions, touchdowns, His stats are ridiculous every single year. He’s that guy to me. I know you’ve got Micah Parsons that’s coming up, you’ve got Myles Garrett, you’ve got a bunch of good players.

“But in my opinion, in the time I’ve seen T.J. Watt in this league, from the first time I’ve seen him to last year, he’s consistently been dominating in this league. So, a lot of respect for him.”

Aaron Donald gives immense praise to T.J. Watt

Watt, 29, led the NFL with 19.0 sacks this past season, his third campaign sitting atop the sacks leaderboard. His 96.5-career sacks are eighth among active players. Watt finished second in AP Defensive Player of the Year Award voting, just behind Garrett, and one spot ahead of Parsons.

Watt won his first and only AP Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2021 after tying Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan for the single-season sacks record with 22.5. He has finished in the top-three in voting in three other seasons. Watt placed second in voting in 2020, falling short of Donald.

Donald recently told his wife, Erica, in a sit-down interview that Watt has been “snubbed a couple times” for the AP Defensive Player of the Year Award.

“Maybe not the next Aaron Donald, but I would say T.J. Watt,” Donald said. “He’s a guy that’s consistently been doing it every single year…. Going to consistently get 15 sacks for you, 20 TFLs, probably two interceptions, maybe a touchdown for sure. He’s a guy that’s been doing it consistently, like he should have won a couple defensive players of the year. He got snubbed a couple times, I ain’t gonna lie.”