The Los Angeles Rams truly believed they were the team to beat last season. With a roster brimming with talent and the league MVP at quarterback, they made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game, losing in heartbreaking fashion to the eventual champions, the Seattle Seahawks.
This offseason, they’ve taken that as a slight and worked two blockbuster trades to further load up on talent, acquiring Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett. After the latter move, rumors of a potential reunion with Aaron Donald are starting to make the rounds.
Aaron Donald’s Return to the Rams Isn’t Simple
One of the most dominant defensive forces in league history, Donald won three Defensive Player of the Year awards over the course of his career, before becoming a key component to their victory in Super Bowl 56.
Making the key stop on Joe Burrow on fourth down, he effectively sealed the game for the Rams. Since then, he’s already called it a career and has been enjoying retirement for the last two seasons.
But with a two-time DPOY in Garrett joining the roster and giving them another lethal defensive presence, a potential comeback is on the cards. Donald himself hasn’t ruled out the possibility. However, another Super Bowl champion, Greg Jennings, doesn’t think it is that easy.
Shifting from his career as a wide receiver to an analyst on “First Things First,” Jennings broke down the mental hurdle that Donald has to overcome.
“Once you walk away from this game and you have mentally been checked out, not having to train on demand when somebody else wants you to train, go into a meeting, go through training camp, this isn’t Philip Rivers coming in Week 15,” Jennings said.
To that extent, he had two major reasons for believing that it wouldn’t be a smooth integration, despite his experience with the organization and the system.
“Because the demand of the position, like offensive linemen, defensive linemen, they are tasked with practicing a physical brand of practice just simply to work on their skills to better their craft,” Jennings continued. “You can’t just fluff, especially when you’ve got a guy like Myles Garrett coming in. You wanna see what works, what doesn’t work.”
However, the two-time Pro Bowler put a greater emphasis on the mental aspect of things, adding, “Mentally you are so checked out, so when you watch the games you’re looking like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool, but I don’t wanna go through that practice.'” To that point, he even brought up evidence straight from the horse’s mouth.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
“But again, forgetting all that, mentally, when you’ve retired, and you’ve walked away, and you seemingly have the good life, and… he was on the podcast with Cam Heyward about a month or so ago, somewhere around there, and he talked about coming back, and he’s like, ‘Man, I don’t even know, like it’s not even on the board really.’”
It remains to be seen if things change between now and the start of the season, or potentially even beyond that. Like Rob Gronkowski or even others before him, Donald could become a rental for the Rams deeper into the season.
According to PFSN’s Defense Impact Metric, the Rams posted an impact score of 85.5 last season, ranking fifth in the league. They are expected to improve with the additions of Garrett and McDuffie, but if Donald returns, they will have a case for the best defense in the league.
While not at his apex anymore, he could still be a game-wrecking presence in spurts, particularly alongside the best defender in the league. But ultimately, the decision will rest in his hands.
