Aaron Donald’s return to the Los Angeles Rams after a two-year sabbatical has brought seismic reactions throughout the NFL world. There are some intelligent reactions, ranging from the Rams becoming Super Bowl favorites to possibly finishing a perfect season, thanks to playing alongside Myles Garrett.
On the contrary, some hot takes about Donald elicited violent reactions from football experts and celebrities, including Super Bowl 52 champion and ESPN Monday Night Countdown panelist Jason Kelce.
Jason Kelce Berated a Fan Who Diminished Aaron Donald’s Accomplishments
Getting the attention of a future Pro Football Hall of Famer like Kelce on X means two things: either you made a fantastic analysis or a poor one. An NFL fan, known on X as ConSensation00, did the latter.
For full context, former Pro Football Focus analyst Sam Monson posted, “Aaron Donald never played in a season in which his PFF grade was under 90. Last season, 1 DT in the NFL had a PFF grade above 90. His baseline was better than the best DT in the NFL over his career. If he’s 75% of that, he’s still a huge addition.”
In response, ConSensation00 noted, “He played more games against Russell Wilson than any other singular defender during that time. His stats are largely inflated by Russ’ decline and inability to avoid interior pressure. #StatPadding”
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Kelce noticed the comment and reacted, “Just utter nonsense. This has to be a bot drummed up to just post random political and sports content; no way a real human would think this.” Likewise, Monson added, “Shut it down. The internet’s worst take has been discovered. Time to all go home.”
Just utter nonsense. This has to be a bot drummed up to just post random political and sports content, no way a real human would think this.
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) August 31, 2026
Yes, Donald did play 17 games against Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. However, in those years, Wilson was one of the league’s best dual-threat quarterbacks, earning him nine Pro Bowl selections during his Seattle years.
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But the argument falters because Donald still had to sack Wilson (which he did 15 times), and he was just an unstoppable force who forced teams to double- or triple-block him.
From 2015 to 2021, Donald ranked No.1 in seven consecutive years on PFN’s Defensive Tackle Impact Rankings.
Donald Has Hall of Fame Credentials
Regardless of what happens during Donald’s return as an NFL player, he should have a bronze already reserved in Canton. Monson’s post is strengthened by the fact that Donald was a First Team All-Pro honoree in eight of his first 10 seasons.
Furthermore, Donald led the league in sacks (20.5) in 2018, despite being an interior defensive lineman whom every offensive lineman knew about on every snap. Therefore, the Super Bowl 56 champion was a challenge, and Kelce can confirm this assertion, having lined up against him at center in four regular-season games.
Kelce had the utmost respect for Donald, so much so that he declared the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner as the best defensive player of the last decade during a March 2024 episode of the Kelce brothers’ “New Heights” podcast, recorded shortly after Donald’s retirement.
Kelce also revealed that Donald was the only player that the Philadelphia Eagles faced who had an entire game plan focused on him.
