My Favorite (Other) Player

As a Chargers fan, I love my team and I love our players. The Chargers have some players who are, undoubtedly, some of the best in the business. Joey Bosa, Keenan Allen, Philip Rivers, Casey Hayward… I could go on. I love those guys and the joy they bring me throughout the season. Whether it's throwing passes, scoring touchdowns or wrecking the opposition's offensive game plan, if they've got that lightning bolt, I’m all in on these guys.

However, this isn't about my guys, this is about game recognizing game. There's plenty of other players who I love watching on Sundays when I'm not watching the Bolts. I love witnessing the greatness of Aaron Rodgers, I love to see Jalen Ramsey locking down Wide Receivers, I love to see Antonio Brown on the blower to the man upstairs… All of these players are fantastic at what they do, they go on to the field on Sundays and dominate but none of them are my favorite other player…

My pick is...

Aaron Donald - Defensive Tackle - Los Angeles Rams

That's right, I'm keeping it in L.A. and going over to our future landlords, the Rams. Like the players mentioned above, Aaron Donald definitely dominates, he's about as dominant as you can get in a defensive player in the league.

#99 is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and is fresh off his third All-Pro accolade. Donald’s fellow professionals also rated him, after the 2016 season, as the 15th best overall player in the league. Oh, and he's been to the Pro Bowl all four years of his career thus far. So he's earned honors and recognition from the fans, the writers and his peers. Like I said, this is where game recognizes game.

On the field, Donald affects the game in the trenches in a big way. He's a superb pass rusher from the interior of the defensive line, registering 39 sacks and 9 forced fumbles over 4 seasons. As well as putting opposing Quarterbacks under pressure, Donald is also a stout defender against the run, ranking in the top 10 in tackles for loss every year of his career to date. Donald does all this whilst facing a heavy dose of double teams as Offensive Coordinators attempt to take him out of the game.

Donald has also shown versatility as well. In St. Louis, he played as a 3-tech Defensive Tackle in a 4-3 base system but, since Wade Phillips arrived in L.A., it's been a 3 man front with Donald lining up at both nose and end. It goes without saying that he's given Offensive Linemen nightmares no matter where he's lined up. If he's on the field, Aaron Donald is a problem that offenses have to account for.

Off the field, Donald is seemingly one of those people, that we all know, who is annoyingly good at pretty much anything. Fans of HBO’s Hard Knocks will remember Donald beating all before him at ping-pong and looking good when throwing a football too! Fast forward to this off-season and you will remember the video of Donald training with knives. If you haven't seen it, go check it out (don't worry Rams fans, they were only plastic) This shows an unbelievable work ethic and that he's kind of fun off the field too.

The draft nerd inside me has fond memories of a young DT out of Pitt breaking the 40 yard dash record for Defensive Linemen and then throwing up 31 reps on the bench, again displaying his all-round abilities and really making people sit up and take notice.

Donald is just an elite athlete, with elite hand eye co-ordination and combat skills. Since he was selected with the 13th overall pick (yes, thirteenth), he's just been tearing the league to shreds and I love it. Donald is part of a new generation of superstars in the NFL, in my opinion he's already the best none Quarterback player in the league, all he needs now is a Lombardi trophy or two.

All Los Angeles Superbowl? No thanks, I don't want the Chargers to have to face him!