Aaron Donald at DE

[conner01]

I'm watching Ra'Shede Hageman of Minnesota play right now on ESPN. He's a big kid at 6'6" and 311 lbs. and he's athletic. Looks like he could play either DT in a 4-3 or DE in a 3-4. He looks a bit raw but I like his potential. I expect the Cowboys to be interested in him come May.

i would like and donald. and i think that could be done if doanld does'nt shoot up the boards. right now i think he is an early 2nd so we would need to trade up in the second to get him. but having those two in the middle would really help this defense

 

[Common Sense]

There's a bit of Cowboy-related Twitter love for Donald right now, between Broaddus and @birddog26 who I can only assume is a Cowboys scout. He thinks he'd be a solid pick even at #16.

 

[AsthmaField]

Goodness gracious sign me up. That is some of the best twitch athleticism I have ever seen from an interior lineman. That was damn impressive. He also has the best swim move I have ever seen in a collegiate player. This guy is going to rocket up draft boards when people start focusing on him. I don't care what his measurables are. I would almost guarantee he goes top 15.

Yeah, I honestly think that as the pre-draft process goes along, Donald is going to rise up boards pretty quickly. As I've said, I could be wrong about that, but guys who dominate their position in college THAT much typically go pretty damn high.

He might not be a fit for some defenses, but he is a pure 3-technique in a 43 defense and is such a good player that an inch and a few pounds too little isn't going to stop scouts from rating him very high. Not only is he really athletic and quick-twitch for a big man, but he seems to have a real feel for the position and he clearly has fantastic football instincts. Either you have a feel for leverage and angles or you don't, and Donald does.

This seems to be turning out to be a really deep, talented draft so maybe he drops more than I think... but he is a talented enough DT to go in the top half of the first round. He is a much more natural DT than Floyd, Richardson, or Lotulelei was last year. None of them made the plays that Donald did with any consistency. Floyd's highlight reel had about 3 plays in it that I would consider to be great plays, and that was because he simply didn't make that many. Donald literally had several plays per game that were outstanding. Richardson would flash, and Lotulelei would too... but all 3 guys put together didn't make as many great plays as Donald did.

Combine measurables are fine... but it all comes down to how they played football. When NFL teams start breaking down the players, I honestly think Donald is going to be rated higher than any other DT in this year's draft.

 

[AsthmaField]

He looks terrific, but why are they not double-teaming him?

There is some really bad OL play in that video.

I'm sure some teams tried double teaming Donald. If he had penetrated and made stops behind the line against just one or two teams, I might say he was just facing a bad player or a bad offensive line... but the guy literally made plays against every single offense he faced. There wasn't a player, a combination of players, an offensive system, offensive line coach, or a gameplan that was able keep Donald out of their backfield. He created problems and gave nightmares to every single team he faced, no matter what they did or what they tried to do against him. He was the single most dominant defensive tackle I've seen since N. Suh, and there wasn't a player that was even close to those two. As much as I loved Richardson last year and thought he would have been perfect in Dallas, he had few plays in his career that rivaled what Donald did on a regular basis.

I realize I have a man-crush on him, but Donald is a natural DT who plays like a man possessed on every snap of every game. If he's there for Dallas, I will be beyond thrilled, and the Cowboys will be well on their way to having a dominant 43 defense. What a truly dominant 3-tech does for a 43 defense like we run is greater than just adding some sacks or tackles behind the line. It changes everything on defense. Take Sapp away from that Tampa defense of the early 2000's, and you have a completely different defense. Rice, Brooks, Lynch, etc. were all great players, but I think they could have won despite losing any one of them. Sapp was the one guy that they couldn't have won without, because that position is so vital to a 43.

Donald would be a terrific addition if he's there.

 

[xwalker]

I'm sure some teams tried double teaming Donald. If he had penetrated and made stops behind the line against just one or two teams, I might say he was just facing a bad player or a bad offensive line... but the guy literally made plays against every single offense he faced. There wasn't a player, a combination of players, an offensive system, offensive line coach, or a gameplan that was able keep Donald out of their backfield. He created problems and gave nightmares to every single team he faced, no matter what they did or what they tried to do against him. He was the single most dominant defensive tackle I've seen since N. Suh, and there wasn't a player that was even close to those two. As much as I loved Richardson last year and thought he would have been perfect in Dallas, he had few plays in his career that rivaled what Donald did on a regular basis.

I realize I have a man-crush on him, but Donald is a natural DT who plays like a man possessed on every snap of every game. If he's there for Dallas, I will be beyond thrilled, and the Cowboys will be well on their way to having a dominant 43 defense. What a truly dominant 3-tech does for a 43 defense like we run is greater than just adding some sacks or tackles behind the line. It changes everything on defense. Take Sapp away from that Tampa defense of the early 2000's, and you have a completely different defense. Rice, Brooks, Lynch, etc. were all great players, but I think they could have won despite losing any one of them. Sapp was the one guy that they couldn't have won without, because that position is so vital to a 43.

Donald would be a terrific addition if he's there.

I like the player, but size is a concern. A lot of inside speed rushers get stymied when they get to the NFL when they can't win with their first step like they did on college.

Suh was much bigger/stronger coming out of college. Sapp started out at about 305 and ended up at about 330.

I think he'll be good, but we'll see more when he gets to the Senior Bowl and goes up against legit OLines.

 

[jblaze2004]

is he playing in the senior bowl? That would be a good evaluation right there.

 

[AsthmaField]

I like the player, but size is a concern. A lot of inside speed rushers get stymied when they get to the NFL when they can't win with their first step like they did on college.

Suh was much bigger/stronger coming out of college. Sapp started out at about 305 and ended up at about 330.

I think he'll be good, but we'll see more when he gets to the Senior Bowl and goes up against legit OLines.

Yeah, we will see. I think Donald will be fine in the NFL, but I've been wrong before.

I remember when we drafted Emmitt Smith, I was watching the draft with a Saints fan who thought the Cowboys made a mistake drafting Smith. He said that Emmitt made a living in college by making defenders miss and that in the pros he wasn't going to be able to make people miss like that. He said Emmitt was fast enough for college but in the pros he'd get run down.

What he said made sense, but it didn't turn out that way. You can't always say a guy won't be as good in the NFL as he was in college. Sometimes it works out that way and sometimes it doesn't.

If a guy was a hell of a player in college, I tend to think he's going to be a good player in the pros as well. Unless the player is lazy, or has work ethic issues, etc. that is.

 

[AsthmaField]

is he playing in the senior bowl? That would be a good evaluation right there.

I don't know, but I hope so. It would be good to see him in the week long practices as well as the game itself.

 

[xwalker]

Yeah, we will see. I think Donald will be fine in the NFL, but I've been wrong before.

I remember when we drafted Emmitt Smith, I was watching the draft with a Saints fan who thought the Cowboys made a mistake drafting Smith. He said that Emmitt made a living in college by making defenders miss and that in the pros he wasn't going to be able to make people miss like that. He said Emmitt was fast enough for college but in the pros he'd get run down.

What he said made sense, but it didn't turn out that way. You can't always say a guy won't be as good in the NFL as he was in college. Sometimes it works out that way and sometimes it doesn't.

If a guy was a hell of a player in college, I tend to think he's going to be a good player in the pros as well. Unless the player is lazy, or has work ethic issues, etc. that is.

I guess I'm still lamented from getting burned this year thinkind that Drake Nevis could do something. He is a guy that a had a super quick first step, but he just couldn't get off blocks if he didn't win with the first step. He has short arms and was just not quite powerful enough.

I do think Donald will be good, I'm just guarded in my optimism until I see him at the Senior Bowl against the NFL caliber OLinemen.

 

[AsthmaField]

I guess I'm still lamented from getting burned this year thinkind that Drake Nevis could do something. He is a guy that a had a super quick first step, but he just couldn't get off blocks if he didn't win with the first step. He has short arms and was just not quite powerful enough.

I do think Donald will be good, I'm just guarded in my optimism until I see him at the Senior Bowl against the NFL caliber OLinemen.

Fair enough. I'm also interested in how he fares at the senior bowl, although that is no guarantee to be a yardstick on his pro career.

 

[xwalker]

Fair enough. I'm also interested in how he fares at the senior bowl, although that is no guarantee to be a yardstick on his pro career.

Yep, no guarantees in player evaluation. Just play the probabilities.

 

[1LoyalCowboyFan]

He'll be there outside of a freakish combine performance and arm length. He's a 4-3 3-technique only, and his size will turn teams off.

I'd love to see his arm length