A look at how Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald performed before he chose to walk away from football.
After months of speculation, it was announced that Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald is officially ending his retirement.
Considering he stepped away from the game of football back in 2023, it is time to look at how he performed before retiring at the arguably height of his career.
Donald's accolades are well-known and documented, but now the 2026 season will see him take the field yet again after two years away from the game. Despite retiring, the defender has stayed in great shape, which he has showcased through many workout videos since he walked away from football.
Additionally, Donald began to engage in drills and workouts at the Rams facility to see if he was still in football shape. That was clearly the case, and now he is set to play.
That said, here is how Donald fared in his final season.
Donald ended his 2023 season appearing in and starting 16 games. During that time, he secured three passes defended, eight sacks, 53 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and 23 quarterback hits en route to his 10th Pro Bowl nod and ninth All-Pro nod.
Donald also posted a 90.9 overall grade on Pro Football Focus, with a league-leading 20 percent pass rush win rate.
Simply put, the Rams defensive end had a fantastic year, which made his choice to walk away from the game of football that much more shocking. However, instead of allowing the game of football to retire him, Donald chose to leave on his own terms.
There seemed to be no path back to football for Donald, despite Los Angeles likely staying in contact to ask if he would consider it.
After the Rams traded for Myles Garrett, that became the catalyst to allow his return to happen.
Now, Donald joins an all-star cast that includes Garrett, defensive lineman Kobie Turner, defensive end Braden Fiske, safety Quentin Lake, cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, and many more.
The Rams have been pegged as early Super Bowl favorites for their roster being structured the way that it is, and the arrival of Donald might just push the team into a completely different.
Nothing is guaranteed, and a lot has to still go right for Los Angeles to not only make it to the playoffs, win the conference, and the Super Bowl, but Donald coming back is certainly going to help their chances.
If Donald can return to any sort of form that he was in 2023, this defense might be nearly-impossible to stop.
