honyock
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I was on the "please let Aaron Donald fall to us" bandwagon pre-draft and was really disappointed to see the Rams take him ahead of us. So I've been looking forward to seeing how he'd fare against the interior of the Cowboys' line. In particular I wanted to see how Leary would hold up against him - when Leary has struggled, it has often been against quick tackles out-quicking him.
So here's how it all broke down: I counted Donald in for 27 defensive snaps. He didn't start, but would come in on nickel sets, often as the nose tackle in 3 man nickel fronts, right on Frederick's helmet. Of his 27 snaps, 18 were passes and 9 were runs. Only 9 of his snaps were in the second half. It was obvious the Rams preferred to not have him in the game in base packages on a regular basis. They wanted him rushing the passer.
I was a little surprised at the breakdown of who he faced:
He lined up over Fred 15 times.
He lined up over Leary 5 times.
He lined up over Martin 6 times.
In the first half, he got completely neutralized. He just didn't come close to getting any kind of pressure against anyone, and he was no factor against the run. When Fred had solo responsibility for him, he handled him with ease...Donald mainly flailed away nowhere near Romo. He dipped a shoulder at one point and looked like he might get past Fred, then just like that Fred got his hands on him and had him under control. He drove upfield pretty hard once on Martin, who had no trouble pushing him past Romo. Leary had absolutely no trouble at all with him. With the amount of 3 man nickel fronts the Rams showed, Leary or Martin would give Fred help at times in pass protection. At one point Donald stunted around and tried to loop outside Smith, who handled him easily.
On a couple of consecutive sweeps left on the third series, Martin pulled left and Donald followed him through the hole. Free tried to block down on him but Donald was way too quick and Free ended up chasing him down the LOS, athough Donald couldn't catch up to Murray on either play. It was a tough assignment for Free with such a quick tackle.
Donald looked much more active in the second half and had a couple of plus plays in only 9 snaps. On the long TD drive that gave the Cowboys the lead, he tackled Murray for a five yard loss. He was Fred's responsibility on the play, but Free's man (Sims) really blew up the play. Fred had his hands on Donald as Murray was headed between Martin and Free, but Free's man just totally beat him inside at the snap, and Murray came to a dead stop and tried to drift back inside. Donald kept driving towards the play and finally slipped away from Fred and made the tackle for the loss. He showed some pretty good power and motor, although if Free had just gotten his hands on his guy, Donald was probably out of the play.
Later in the drive (on the Dez PI play), he finally showed the burst and power that he showed at Pitt. He blew by Fred right off the snap, then Martin tried to pick him up but he got inside and just bulled his way past Martin and hit Romo as he released the ball. It was pretty impressive, and it was really the only time the entire game that he showed something special.
He also held his ground and got in on a tackle on a run while up against Martin earlier in the half, on a two yard gain by Randle.
He gave Fred a little trouble just those two times, in a lot more snaps than either Leary or Martin faced him. Both guards handled him without much problem, and in particular Leary had an easy time of it. The three of them are really adept at helping each other out and handing off linemen to each other, they're a joy to watch in detail.
So here's how it all broke down: I counted Donald in for 27 defensive snaps. He didn't start, but would come in on nickel sets, often as the nose tackle in 3 man nickel fronts, right on Frederick's helmet. Of his 27 snaps, 18 were passes and 9 were runs. Only 9 of his snaps were in the second half. It was obvious the Rams preferred to not have him in the game in base packages on a regular basis. They wanted him rushing the passer.
I was a little surprised at the breakdown of who he faced:
He lined up over Fred 15 times.
He lined up over Leary 5 times.
He lined up over Martin 6 times.
In the first half, he got completely neutralized. He just didn't come close to getting any kind of pressure against anyone, and he was no factor against the run. When Fred had solo responsibility for him, he handled him with ease...Donald mainly flailed away nowhere near Romo. He dipped a shoulder at one point and looked like he might get past Fred, then just like that Fred got his hands on him and had him under control. He drove upfield pretty hard once on Martin, who had no trouble pushing him past Romo. Leary had absolutely no trouble at all with him. With the amount of 3 man nickel fronts the Rams showed, Leary or Martin would give Fred help at times in pass protection. At one point Donald stunted around and tried to loop outside Smith, who handled him easily.
On a couple of consecutive sweeps left on the third series, Martin pulled left and Donald followed him through the hole. Free tried to block down on him but Donald was way too quick and Free ended up chasing him down the LOS, athough Donald couldn't catch up to Murray on either play. It was a tough assignment for Free with such a quick tackle.
Donald looked much more active in the second half and had a couple of plus plays in only 9 snaps. On the long TD drive that gave the Cowboys the lead, he tackled Murray for a five yard loss. He was Fred's responsibility on the play, but Free's man (Sims) really blew up the play. Fred had his hands on Donald as Murray was headed between Martin and Free, but Free's man just totally beat him inside at the snap, and Murray came to a dead stop and tried to drift back inside. Donald kept driving towards the play and finally slipped away from Fred and made the tackle for the loss. He showed some pretty good power and motor, although if Free had just gotten his hands on his guy, Donald was probably out of the play.
Later in the drive (on the Dez PI play), he finally showed the burst and power that he showed at Pitt. He blew by Fred right off the snap, then Martin tried to pick him up but he got inside and just bulled his way past Martin and hit Romo as he released the ball. It was pretty impressive, and it was really the only time the entire game that he showed something special.
He also held his ground and got in on a tackle on a run while up against Martin earlier in the half, on a two yard gain by Randle.
He gave Fred a little trouble just those two times, in a lot more snaps than either Leary or Martin faced him. Both guards handled him without much problem, and in particular Leary had an easy time of it. The three of them are really adept at helping each other out and handing off linemen to each other, they're a joy to watch in detail.
