NFLRT 3/22/2024

The questions and discussion…

1) Ten year veteran and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and eight-time first-team All-Pro and just 33-years old, has announced he is retiring from the NFL. Saying he is going out of the game at the top of the league at his position would be something of an understatement. In fact it is without question Donald will be going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but the more interesting question may be… 

Is Donald the greatest defensive tackle who has ever played in the NFL? Why or why not?

And on a larger scale how does Donald rank all-time among all NFL defensive players? Why?

I think Aaron Donald is the greatest defensive tackle of all-time because he was like a free-range defensive lineman. He could play tackle, edge and even flip back to linebacker if he needed to. He required multiple offensive line players to block him and spend their assets making sure he was covered and couldn’t freely make his way to the quarterback. He made the Pro Bowl and was an All-Pro in over every season that he played. He was a destroyer. He took control of the field every time he stepped on it. Teams were more worried about him than the rest of the Rams’ defense. And, while this is a video game I’m referencing, he was a cheat code in Madden, which usually speaks some volume to the contribution they provide on the field in real life. He was one of the best pass rushers and defenders of all-time.

As for the best defensive player of all-time? It’s hard to rank since there’s a lot of different positions and responsibilities on the field, but in terms of defensive linemen? I think he’s definitely top five, maybe even top three. There’s repeated tapes of him requiring three different offensive linemen blocking him on pass or run plays. He wasn’t overly massive, but he was all muscle with almost no body fat. He was an absolute menace on the field and is an automatic first ballot Hall of Famer.    

Donald has three Defensive Player of the Year awards, tying him with J.J. Watt and Lawrence Taylor for the most in NFL history. He made the Pro Bowl in all of his 10 seasons, tying Taylor for the most consecutive Pro Bowls to start a career. In his 10 year career in the NFL he was named First Team All-Pro 8 times.

Donald finished his career with 111 sacks in his career, which is the most ever for a defensive tackle and 11th most by any player in NFL history. He had 176 tackles for loss which is the most by any player in NFL history and his 260 QB hits are second most in league history and the most ever for a defensive tackle.

Donald transformed how the position of defensive tackle was played in the NFL and in my opinion he is the is the greatest defensive tackle in league history.

As for where he ranks among all defensive players… I got him in the top five.  

For the best ever…

In my opinion it’s between Lawrence Taylor and Reggie White.

The case for LT… As mentioned above he was three-time Defensive Player of the Year selection, tied with Watt and Donald for the most in NFL history and he did it in the first six years he played in the NFL.  

In his first ten seasons Taylor had 124 sacks in his first 10 seasons. Taylor had a career-high of 20.5 in 1986 and was named the league MVP or what he did in 1986 as an outside. He was the second defensive player to ever win the award with Alan Page in 1971 being the first. He is also the last defensive player to ever win the NFL MVP.

Because of how disruptive Taylor was and how often he could get to a QB coaches had to revamp their offensive blocking schemes and offensive formations and began using two tight ends in an effort to stop LT from getting to their QB.

Taylor finished his career with 142 sacks which is the ninth-most by a player in NFL history and was the most by a linebacker in league history at the time of his retirement.

Taylor is without question the greatest outside linebacker in NFL history.

The case for Reggie White…

He was called the “Minister of Defense” for a reason most of all because he was simply a force to be reckoned with on the edge. At the time he retired in 2000 he finished his career with 198 sacks, which was the most ever i the game at that time. He had 12 double-digit sack seasons, including 9 straight to start his career which is an NFL record. 

 In his 15 NFL seasons White earned 8 first-team All-Pro selections and made 13 Pro Bowls. He earned two Defensive Player of the Year awards and led the NFL in sacks twice. White and T.J. Watt are the only two players in NFL history to have four consecutive seasons of 13-plus sacks. White averaged almost 1 sack per game for his career and his 0.85 sack avenge is the NFL record among players who have played at least 100 games, leading LT in that category who has a 0.79 average sack rate. Whit was so good throughout his career that in 1998 at age 37 he won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award.  

For me… I’m leaning to LT as the greatest defensive player ever.

2) QB Kirk Cousins has agreed to a four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons reportedly worth $180 million, which includes a $50 million signing bonus.

Is the addition of Cousins to the Falcons the missing piece that unlocks a Falcons’ offense that has struggled in recent seasons despite adding highly talented players at various skill positions and ultimately bring the team to the postseason for the first time since 2017? Why or why not?

Atlanta was going to be a very good team last season if they had two things: proper usage of Bijan Robinson and a quarterback.

They finally found their quarterback in Kirk Cousins, and they didn’t stop with him, adding two receivers for him as well in Rondale Moore and Darnell Mooney. This is going to really solidify their offense and they might, finally, get the results they’ve been searching for from Kyle Pitts since they drafted him. Cousins is going to make the offense a legit threat in the NFL, and they can certainly pull off the NFC South division now. They just need to bolster up the defense a little bit, which I fully expect them to in the draft, and this offense is now finally together.

It’s just too bad that this came after Arthur Smith’s departure. 

In as simple words as I can put it…

Atlanta acquiring Cousins gets them much-needed stability at the most important position on an NFL team and puts him on a roster that has some of the better talent in the NFL and should make the Falcons the top pick to win the NFC South and go deep into the playoffs and contend for the Super Bowl in the 2024 season.

3) The most volatile position in this year’s free agency period was arguably running back with no less than ten players, including stars such as Derrick Henry (Ravens) , Saquon Barkley (Eagles), Josh Jacobs (Packers) and Aaron Jones (Vikings), along with Zack Moss (Bengals), D’Andre Swift (Bears), Gus Edwards (Chargers), Tony Pollard (Titans) Austin Ekeler (Commanders) and Devin Singletary (Giants) changing teams.   

In your opinion which team upgraded its RB position most? Why? 

And which team improved its playoff and Super Bowl aspirations the most with the running back that they signed? Why? 

I think there are two teams that improved the most, with one being closer to the Super Bowl than the other. Both the Ravens and the Bears upgraded the running back position the most.

The Bears finally get a reliable back in D’Andre Swift who is going to be a wonderful support tool for Caleb Williams and a new quarterback. They needed to add a running back after struggling with that position in the year’s past. And they got their answer with Swift, who has really done a nice job – despite being underutilized in Detroit his last season – in the league and is going to really help balance out their offense.

As for the Ravens, they need a workhorse at running back instead of running out a huge committee backfield to take the load off of Lamar Jackson, whom, once again, led the Ravens’ team in rushing yards. Derrick Henry can carry the ball 300+ times in a season and be their main workhorse back. He is able to rush for 2000 yards and can still rush for 1500 yards, confidently, at his age. That’s going to help relieve a lot of pressure off of Lamar Jackson and force defenses to respect the run game by not only Lamar on every play, but also from Henry, who can power through lines. 

And that’s where I think it comes down to making the biggest Super Bowl push. The Ravens were the favorites to make the Super Bowl coming out of the AFC but a disappearance of the rushing attack against the Kansas City Chiefs not only left everybody scratching their heads at the play-calling, but also showed everybody that they had a true missing piece on offense that needs to be corrected. After a lot of rumors of Henry heading there before free agency began, he finally pulled the trigger and went. And that’s going to really open up that offense. I’m excited, as I’m sure Lamar Jackson is, at what’s going to happen with him there. If he brings them what he supplied Tennessee for his entire career, Baltimore is going to reap those benefits mightily and be another favorite to reach the Super Bowl once again. 

Derrick Henry signing with the Ravens accomplished both factors… it upgraded their running back situation from being a group of different choices, or running back by committee, with QB Jackson being the prime rusher to having Henry take over the position permanently thus taking off the pressure from Jackson having to run so much and put his body in jeopardy. And with Henry on board and his capability to rush for upwards of 1,500 yards or so it improves the team’s chances to get to the Super Bowl by having a RB/QB combination that should be one of the most dynamic and electric in the NFL in the 2024 season.  

4) With the Steelers trading Kenny Pickett to the Eagles it is somewhat obvious the team is going with Russell Wilson as their starter at QB. In fact at this point Wilson is the only QB on the team’s active roster. 

Does Wilson’s addition improve the Steelers at QB enough to make them a real threat to get to the Super Bowl this season? Why or why not?

Russell Wilson definitely improves the offense as Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky were not the answers at quarterback in Pittsburgh. While Mike Tomlin was able to still pull out over .500 seasons with Pickett at quarterback, improving and bringing in the experience Wilson brings is going to help a lot to continue that streak.

With Arthur Smith now the offensive coordinator, plays can be developed to fit around Wilson’s play-style, and I expect Wilson to fall back towards kind of what he was doing in Seattle, but just not to that top level he once was. I expect Pittsburgh to improve and be able to better compete for the AFC North Divisional title.

Wilson will also be a fantastic lead for newly acquired quarterback Justin Fields, who should come to Pennsylvania as the back-up and be a sponge, ready to learn from a quarterback who kind of has the same play-style as each other. 

Simply put, Wilson will be a more stable option at QB than the uneven group of players who had previously manned the position between Kenny Picket and Mason Rudolph. And considering that with such a uneven mix at QB the Steelers still went 10-7 and made the playoffs mostly due to an offense that has several notable playmakers that includes running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren along with receivers George Pickens, Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth having a consistent Wilson at QB should only improve the Steelers for the 2024 season.

The 35-year-old Wilson will now have the chance in Pittsburgh to prove that he can still play and I’m wagering that he has enough  desire and fire within himself to take the chance by the horns and turn it into the same opportunity that Baker Mayfield had and accomplished with the Bucs.

Maybe he isn’t the same guy who once helped lead the Seahawks to two straight Super Bowls, but I think he still has enough talent as an NFL QB that he can take Steelers to the next level of play and have the team be a front runner for the AFC North title and more.

5) At this point in time almost every team that needed a QB either as a starter or a backup has filled their need for that position. Yet Justin Fields is still a Chicago Bear.

 In your opinion what happened to the market for Fields? Why?

And if the bears don’t trade Fields before the draft does it have any effect on who they take with the number one overall pick? Why or why not?  

Speaking of Fields, with him going to Pittsburgh, I think it leaves the answer to the Bears’ question pretty self-explanatory. Quarterback Caleb Williams is going to be their pick at number one, and he gets to jump right in to a better situation than what Fields had to navigate last season.

As for what drove Fields’ market down? I think it was the initial asking price from the Bears. I think they over-valued him compared to what the rest of the league valued him at. And with other options, and cheaper options, on the market, it made more sense to go with them than to devote a top draft pick for a quarterback that would, ultimately, be a one-year rental unless they wanted to pick up his $20+ million fifth-year option.

So the Steelers wound up getting him for a sixth round draft pick, that can go up to a fourth-round draft pick based on play time, and it’ll likely be a sixth round pick which ultimately will go back to Chicago.

This is a great situation for Fields, though, in learning from a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Russell Wilson who shares the same playing style as Fields. They both can run, have big arms, and Fields needs to not only get quicker with his reads, but use his feet to his advantage to open up more pass options, more receivers and take advantage of the pass interference rules that heavily favor the quarterbacks and offense in which they can underthrow deep throws and fight to get the ball and usually get the call in their favor if a flag is thrown.  

Well the question is sort of moot now because he finally was traded to the Steelers for a 6th  round pick that  depending in how many games he gets in could turn into a 4th round pick.  

But as for why his market was seemingly so subdued… I think it was because (1) no team considered him anything more than a backup option at QB for their team and (2) the Bears timing in finally coming around to accepting a deal to trade him simply sucked and finally (3) for a team who would be trading for a backup QB he had only one year left on his cheap, rookie-scale contract, and then to keep him beyond that the team acquiring Fields would have to pick up his fifth-year option for the 2025 campaign which would be  around $25.7 million, so it’s highly unlikely that any team would be picking it up.

All three of those factors together are why it took so long for the Bears to find a taker for Fields and why they got so little in return for him.