Aaron Donald vs Larry Allen in his prime?

75boyz

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Warren Sapp for sure. Dude was a terror.

Exactly. Basically Donald before Donald and probably better because he was just as quick but much heavier than Donald. He was some strange hybrid generational 3 tech - 1 tech combo with the girth of a 1, but the quick twitch of a 3.

I remember they had the ABC Superstars competition for linemen back in the day and Sapp would win and people watching would be like how does a guy that big move so quick/fast?

So yeah, I've seen the Aaron Donald show before.
Can't say I've seen a re-run of Larry Allen. He remains as often imitated but never duplicated.
 
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terra

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Exactly. Basically Donald before Donald and probably better because he was just as quick but much heavier than Donald. He was some strange hybrid generational 3 tech - 1 tech combo with the girth of a 1, but the quick twitch of a 3.

I remember they had the ABC Superstars competition for linemen back in the day and Sapp would win and people watching would be like how does a guy that big move so quick/fast?

So yeah, I've seen the Aaron Donald show before.
Can't say I've seen a re-run of Larry Allen. He remains as often imitated but never duplicated.
Sapp in his prime was frankly clearly better than Donald. So the ignorant idiots trying to claim that Donald is the greatest of all time are as usual full of it. I saw Bob Lilly and Merlin Olsen play; and have seen NFL films specials on both of them. They dominated their times in a way Donald has not.
 

RonnieT24

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Sapp in his prime was frankly clearly better than Donald. So the ignorant idiots trying to claim that Donald is the greatest of all time are as usual full of it. I saw Bob Lilly and Merlin Olsen play; and have seen NFL films specials on both of them. They dominated their times in a way Donald has not.

To be honest I have not seen any one proclaiming Donald the greatest of all time except for one idiot on this site. Donald is amazing.. An all timer.. but to act as if he could hold up against Larry Allen is nonsense. Hell he got handled by Connor Williams when the Cowboys met them in the playoffs after the 2018 season. People too soon forget that it was Suh who ruined the Cowboys that day. Williams, because he was every bit as quick as Donald, really had no trouble staying in front of him because Donald, while strong for his size, is not strong enough to just overpower a guy who is the same size and using proper leverage. Larry Allen on the other hand.. was strong for any size.. not just his.. And his quickness was legendary.. But as some have mentioned.. Warren Sapp was amazing in his prime.. Bryant Young was incredible too. People get too caught up in sacks like that is the sole arbiter of great defensive line play. There is SO much more too it than that.. But none of that was happening when the defender lined up across from Larry Allen.
 

gimmesix

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I would take Larry in that matchup because he is every bit as quick and fast as Donald but 50 pounds heavier and much stronger. Larry dominated a lot of guys with Donald's level of ability. Several of them are already in the Hall of Fame.. but can be found on the business end of a Larry Allen pancake..

My thinking is the same. If Allen was just a power player, he couldn't handle Donald's quickness. But Allen could move very well for a big man (at least until near the end of his career). Prime Allen would have overpowered Donald on most snaps because Donald wouldn't be able to use his quickness to escape.

Of course, offensive linemen don't always get one-on-ones with DL during games, so Donald would likely get "wins" when Allen passed him off to pick up a stunt or blitzer or when Donald beat the center so quickly that Allen wasn't able to come off another block and help in time. A smart team would rarely line Donald up one-on-one against a player like Allen.
 
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ZekeTrain

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Fans love to talk about players being bigger, stronger and faster in today's league. There hasn't been anyone stronger than Allen since he retired. Nor anyone of his size whose faster either. Dude was a once a lifetime kind a player.
 
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